iLia Anossov and his team of 3 assistants went to Diegueno Country School recently in San Diego to bring a full day of learning and practical experience of the most ancient of arts to 24 7th grade students. Studying the Italian Renaissance, the teachers decided to give their class a taste of actual experience of what it might have been like to be an artist in those times and to work with the materials and tools of the masters like Michelangelo and Raphael.
Beginning at the start of the school day, iLia started with a brief history of fresco, explaining that the first frescos are the cave paintings of primitive man. Not knowing that they were creating something that would last for centuries, man picked up colored stones and rocks and used them to draw on the wet limestone cave walls. Some intricate and highly detailed figures of animals and people, depicting stories of weather, hunting and special events of life at the time have lasted for millennia, still as true to color and form as they were when they were created.
Ilia explained that very different from the methods and materials of the artists of today, fresco does not use canvas and paint. Rather, it uses a mix of sand and lime putty the original plaster, and crushed, powdered colored stones and minerals as the pigments. He also explained that these rocks and minerals need to be able to withstand the acidity of the limestone. The limestone has a bleach-like action which has the ability to lighten the color to the point of invisibility if you are not careful and use low quality or synthetic pigments. When the lime plaster dries, the calcification traps the mineral in the newly formed limestone and your image becomes literally 'written in stone', giving us the source of that cliche we hear so often in our language.
After the brief lecture and explanation of the process, the team helped the students to go over their prepared designs cartoons. These designs in fresco-speak are called cartoons. The professional fresco artist draws his cartoon in as much detail as possible. He puts in all the values in black and white that will be in color in the finished piece. For the children however, that kind of detail was unnecessary and simple line drawings were the order of the day. They had chosen simple patterns fleur de lis, mandala style geometrics and family crests.
In order to transfer the pencil designs from the pencil sketch to the wet plaster the students had to trace their cartoon onto a piece of tracing paper. In a demonstration just before lunch, iLia led the students through the tracing process. There are two ways to do it actually; one uses a special tool akin to a miniature pizza wheel with pins which when rolled around on the lines of the drawing punch tiny holes. The tracing paper is held up against the plaster and a sock filled with powdered charcoal is pounced several times around the tracing paper, pushing charcoal dust through the tiny holes and onto the plaster. The students would use another method iLia explained, one that did not require the mess of powdered charcoal. What they would do instead, would be to place their drawing gently onto their wet plaster and use the back of a paintbrush to press along the lines of their design. When the tracing paper is lifted, the design has been gently pressed into the plaster.
Now, to explain just a bit, most people are familiar with fresco as a large artwork; the Sistine Chapel ceiling, Diego Rivera's grand murals, etc. But not many know that a fresco can be made very small and much more simply. For teaching aid, iLia uses a rather ingenious technique of painting fresco on the back of ceramic tiles. A traditional fresco done on a wall has many, many layers and takes many days of applying layer upon layer of plaster using gradually smaller and smaller rocks and pebbles until the final top layer of plaster, one made with a very fine sand is applied. When applying that final layer, the plasterer uses a trowel to 'polish' it leaving a smooth and shiny 'skin' on which to apply the pigments. By using a tile, the students used a 12'' x 12'' tile, the layer upon layer of fresco is eliminated and only two layers of plaster are required. The backsides of tiles also contain a texture which makes the tile bond more strongly with the adhesive used to apply it to the wall or floor. In this case, that texture literally holds the first layer of plaster in place. iLia prepared tiles in advance according to the number of students and had already applied and let dry the first and more rough layer of plaster. While the children were eating lunch, he began applying the final layer, the one that would receive the color.
As the children finished their lunches, they streamed over, all of them clambering for a prepared tile, ready to go with their tracings and easels. After transferring the designs, they began with their colors; a palette of yellow ochre, red, green blue and brown to be shared by two to three students. They began as Ilia had instructed in his demonstration by outlining their design first. Then filling it in with the colors of their choice. Now painting with powdered pigments might be imagined to be just like painting with paint but it is in fact very, very different. The fine powdered rock is mixed only with water and settles to the bottom of any container. When stirring the mixture with a paintbrush, the brush picks up a great deal of water in relation to the pigment. Much more water than necessary or needed actually. If one dips a brush into the bowl and immediately goes to the plaster, drips, drops and runs will surely occur. This is prevented by gently squeezing the excess water out of the brush before touching it to the plaster. This is essential because once the pigment touches the plaster, it is there forever. There is no erasing or taking back in fresco. Every brush stroke, every bit of color, counts toward the final image.
One thing of note: when fresco plaster is fresh and wet, it is a darkish gray. As it dries over time, it becomes lighter and lighter, reaching a beautiful, natural white. While the majority of the drying process occurs within the first several days, a fresco continues to harden over months and solidify through the years.
For the final hour or so of the class, the children intently painted their images. The teachers walked around fascinated, intrigued and encouraging their charges. How simply amazing that here they were, creating art, with very few modifications, the same way the masters we know of today created them centuries ago. When all the frescos were finished, the class had a veritable mosaic of beautiful patterns to take home. Who knows, with care, many of them will too last for centuries.
While this particular class was aimed at and structured for 7nth graders, iLia's Fresco School specialty is teaching and working with professional artists. The Fresco School offers an ongoing fresco workshops, classes and private tutoring throughout the calendar year. No artists repertoire can be called complete without the foundational art of fresco. Like figure drawing, fresco used to be a staple of art schools everywhere. iLia's mission statement probably includes the goal of inspiring artists everywhere to discover and master this amazing medium. As he mentioned, there is an abundance of opportunities for publicity and marketing exposure with fresco. Because it is at this time an uncommon art and because of it's immense contribution to art history and its association with the most brilliant artists world over, there is an instinctive interest in the technique and a public hunger for more information on it. The demand for traditional fresco murals over trompe l'oeil is growing and can be found more and more in upscale hotels, renovations of historic buildings and stately private homes. Anyone wishing to know more or wanting a fresco of their very own can contact iLia through his school at www.frescoschool.org.
