Recently in Fresco School Category

Deterioration of fresco paintings results from the open, porous nature of their support (walls and ceilings of buildings or other carriers) and their interaction with the surrounding microclimates.

The porous mortar backing provides an easy route for the movement of dilute salt solutions. Salts contained in the building materials or the surrounding area can be readily transported to the plaster underlying the painting. Old leaky roof, clogged gutters or subterranean walls and/or semi-buried walls - anything that would cause water to soak and remain in the wall will eventually bring salts from adjasent areas into the plaster. The wall and fresco can get wet from the rains and not be affected as long as it is exposed to freely moving air that would dry it naturally.

Expansion in volume associated with crystallization of these salts disrupts the plaster-pigment adhesion and leads to disintegration of the surface. Such crystallization depends on the identity of the salts and the moisture content of masonry which is subject to seasonal variations in atmospheric humidity and the amount of rain.

Introducing Fresco Lath - Clay (brick) Lath, a product that combines innovation with tradition! "Fresco Lath," is the ideal base or foundation for small frescoes, mosaics or any job requiring a plaster base. Fresco Lath is a thin wire lath with clay heads at the cross points. The Fresco Lath comes pre-cut in 3' x 3' size (www.FrescoShop.com) and 15' x 3' rolls and is a true plaster carrier, meaning that its attributes far outweigh the modern metal lath and is revolutionary for many scopes of artistic application.

October 24 - 25, 10AM - 4PM. The "Wall As Canvas II" painting event to be held on the grounds of the Page Museum, 5801 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90036

Join iLia Anossov (fresco) of The Fresco School as he paints frescoes on sections of The Wall Across Wilshire as part of the 20th Anniversary celebration of The Fall of the Berlin Wall Project. After a fresco demonstration by iLia, viewers themselves are encouraged to participate in painting frescoes on actual section of The Wall Across Wilshire. On November 8, wall segments will be joined to form "The Wall Across Wilshire." That evening, during a midnight ceremony, artists will topple the Wall as it is broadcast live on German television.

Since 1997 The Fresco School in Los Angeles, California has been the world's premiere institution for instruction in the "Mother of All Arts," the (buon) true fresco technique. Now the school is growing in even more new and exciting ways. "Our goal is to see fresco being painted in every town" - says iLia Anossov (fresco), founder of the Fresco School. To achieve this goal Fresco School is proud to announce diverse expansion with a new facility, private fresco class options and an in-depth DVD tutorial series. Classic fresco paintings, like those by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel, are the oldest, and at the same time, the most endangered form of art. Learn the only pure "organic" method of painting - no solvents, glues or man-made materials are used. Paint with molten marble like the magnificent Renaissance masters. Discover the most permanent art form, one that lasts through the centuries or millennia!

Originally established in 1997, The Fresco School - www.FrescoSchool.org, dedicated to providing every facet imaginable for an authentic (Buon) True Fresco education, has constructed a full size, 8' x 16', four-coat Fresco Wall. Now students enrolled in Advanced Level Fresco Workshops and Programs can practice multiple Giornata Frescoes, Fresco removal methods, strappo or calicot as well as alternate techniques such as lime painting, distemper, Secco and Mezzo fresco methods all at one convenient location in the premiere arts district of downtown Los Angeles. The Fresco Wall supplies a chance to explore a medium that becomes part of a permanent structure. Fresco - the ultimate fusion of art and architecture.

Fresco School is proud to announce the official release of the DVD Tutorial - "FRESCO PLASTER" from their "BUON FRESCO FOUNDATIONS" video set.

"Buon Fresco Foundations" - Fresco Plaster DVD video introduces the student to foundational principles and techniques of the preparation and application of slaked lime plaster for True (Buon) Fresco Painting. Topics illustrated include the step-by-step process of plaster preparation filmed in real time without omissions. A student will be able to see exactly how long each step takes and what tools and methods each requires. iLia Anossov (fresco) guides the student by a thorough and clear demonstration of the foundations of calcium fresco plastering relevant to any size fresco.

Volume 1 "FRESCO PLASTER" is the first video in the set of 5 full length (140min each) DVDs detailing the foundational principles of Fresco Painting. Volumes 2-5, "Fresco Cartoon", "Fresco Pigments & Paint", "Fresco Painting - Verdaccio" and "Fresco Painting - Color" are planned to be released the end of the first quarter of 2009.

"Our goal is to have Frescoes being painted in every town! By very modest estimate this will take at least 10,000 artists a lifetime to accomplish."
iLia Anossov (fresco)

Fresco School Video Channel at YouTube.com presents two new fresco videos!

"Albuquerque Fresco" - video vignette of over 400 sq. feet buon fresco painted by iLia Anossov (fresco) in 1999, filmed by Emmy Award winning cinematographer Amy Marash (Bowers) for "Albuquerque Fresco - Inside Look" documentary. Also presented - "Dolphin Fresco" Parts 1 and 2 - a step-by-step journal of the Dolphin Fresco by iLia Anossov,

The Albuquerque Fresco by Ilia Anossov is a paradigm of a brilliant modern fresco. Its technique is on the Grande scale. Viewing it is reminiscent of watching a gigantic film, for this fresco incorporates not only cinematic techniques, and reminders of the most brilliant art, but also resounds of the painting of late modern artists with a flair for whimsy, like Jean Miro, and Paul Klee. At the same time there are images and techniques which evoke paintings of early masters.

To gain experience in plastering at a minimal cost it is possible to prepare a "Practice Lime Putty" from common Type-S Hydrated Construction Lime.

Type-S Hydrated Lime is manufactured from Dolomitic Limestone (Dolomitic limestone contains 35 to 46 percent magnesium carbonate).

Being a great lime to practice fresco plaster application techniques, this lime is NOT suitable for the actual painting in fresco due to fast setting and poor adhesion/binding of colors and efforescence on the color layer. However it is widely used in construction and is available at very low cost almost at any building supplies retailer.

Los Angeles based Fresco School (FrescoSchool.org) is proud to announce it's new Video Channel at www.YouTube.com/FrescoSchool

The new channel features video clips and video tutorials on fresco painting technique. Fresco Video Channel opens with the release of the detailed video tutorial on fresco plastering tools.

"Fresco Painting is the Mother of all Arts and as the channel progresses a variety of "YouTube size" art education videos will be added, including cartoon (drawing for fresco) painting, composition, color and other disciplines of fine art, decorative art and painting with focus on applied arts." - said iLia Anossov (fresco), founder of the Fresco School

Lime Putty is the main ingredient of the buon fresco painting.

Preparation of painting surfaces for fresco involves the application of plaster of increasingly finer texture.

The first step (which in nowadays mainly done by the factories) is the heating (calcination) of marble or limestone (calcium carbonate, CaCO3) at 800-900ßC to make porous lime (calcium oxide, CaO).

HEAT + CaCO3(s) ----> CaO(s) + CO2(g)

To form the plaster for fresco work, the lime is "slaked." The slaking process, which requires the addition of 2 or 3 molecules of water for each molecule of lime, yields calcium paste or lime putty, an aqueous gel of thin crystals of calcium hydroxide.

CaO(s) + H2O(l) ----> Ca(OH)2(s) + HEAT

Excess water acts as a lubricant so that the crystals slide easily over one another. Historically, lime was slaked in pits or troughs over a period of at least six months to obtain lime putty of the desired consistency. Artisans in Michelangelo's time use plaster aged for as long as ten years. Fresco plaster itself is made from the slaked lime and varying portions of sand or marble dust. Generally, walls are plastered with several layers of such fresco plaster in order of decreasing proportions and particle size of sand. Hardening of the fresco plaster on the wall includes several simultaneous physical and chemical process: the absorption of water into the wall, evaporation of water from the surface, and the carbonation of the slaked lime by carbon dioxide, CO

Ca(OH)2(s) + CO2(g) ----> CaCO3(s) + H2O(l)

David Hockney made a mural at the bottom of the pool of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel that graced the guests as they were enjoying the wonderful outdoor climate, swimming, and gazing out at the water. The mural became known throughout the town and many tourists would come to the hotel just to see the enormous pattern of blue gestural curves that had a strong visual impact from any vantage point. There was always a possibility to catch a glimpse of a Hollywood "A- lister" enjoying the comfortable environment along with the guests.

Over time, the paint has been deteriorated by the chemicals of the water and the constant contact of the guests rubbing up against the floor and walls. The vibrant blue marks went from being the focal point of the view to being minor stains at the bottom of the pool. They just made the pool look dirty and took away from the vibrancy of the water.

The artists of iLia Anossov Design (iLAdesigns.com) have become the saviors of many historical murals all around Los Angeles. Amongst other high profile projects they have worked on an extensive restoration project on the Park Plaza Hotel. The Park Plaza had come to a point where the murals painted directly on plaster (a form of secco fresco) were falling apart and the highly detailed designs were not even visible. The decorations were not only losing their beauty, they were actually fading away completely affecting the overall impression of the hotel.

Strother Martin Monument 1972, artist Kent Twitchell
photo by Ruth Wallach

Reading through some of the blogs responding to the LA Times story I see that there is still some misunderstanding about the graffiti issue. I only oppose spray paint when it is used to cover over murals or other public art. That is called vandalism and that alone is the reason "we cannot coexist" as I was correctly quoted as saying in the Times. It is the reason LA is no longer the mural capital. Once there were 2 - 3 thousand murals here and every one has been destroyed by spray paint. Either they were painted out because the vandalism became such a blight or they are still out there covered with spray paint and therefore just waiting to be coated over with beige paint.

Spray paint on murals has caused a slow redefinition of the exterior mural,
once an oasis in Los Angeles. Now many people see murals as ugly when actually it is the vandalism that is ugly. I'm not against artists who use spray paint in their work. I used it myself during 1962-63, but every muralist I know is demoralized by all of their works being destroyed by the stuff.

-Sheldon Mak Rose & Anderson spearheads settlement vindicating artists' rights

Pasadena, CA - Renowned artist and muralist Kent Twitchell, faculty member of the Fresco School, has settled his lawsuit against the U.S. Government and 12 other defendants for painting over his 70-foot tall landmark mural of Ed Ruscha, an important Los Angeles-based Pop artist. The settlement amount $1.1 million is believed to be the largest settlement ever under the seldom-invoked Federal Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA) or the California Art Preservation Act (CAPA). VARA and CAPA forbid desecration, alteration, or destruction of certain public works of art without prior notice to the artist to allow for removal. The U.S. Government is contributing $250,000 to the settlement amount. William Brutocao, with the intellectual property law firm Sheldon Mak Rose & Anderson PC, served as Mr. Twitchell's lead trial attorney in this complex and legally-challenging case.

'This settlement sets an important precedent which will benefit other artists,' said Mr. Twitchell. 'This resolution makes it clear that when it comes to public art, you have to respect the artist's rights, or incur significant liability.' Both an artist and muralist, Mr. Twitchell is recognized for his larger-than-life realist mural portraits, often of celebrities and artists.

In it's essence, fresco or fresco painting is an - application of natural mineral pigments to a surface on which a following chemical reaction takes place:

Ca(OH)2(s) + CO2(g) ----> CaCO3(s) + H2O(l)

Calcium Hydrate (burned lime stone or marble mixed with water) combined with carbon dioxide resulting in the formation of Calcium Carbonate - lime stone, marble. It is like "Painting with molten Marble".

by Margaret Springe

I believe that children learn most effectively through completing a process to achieve a desired outcome. It is this belief that led me to include Buon Fresco in my after school art program.
Googling ?fresco? led me to iLia Anossov, founder of The Fresco School, who graciously agreed to conduct a workshop for me while on holiday in LA. iLia?s expert knowledge of the technique and process provided me with enough guidance and confidence to fulfill my desire to teach buon fresco to several groups of 5th and 6th graders at the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence, Ks.
The workshops I conduct consist of 12 to 18 students and last about two hours. The fresco steps that I teach the kids are: making a cartoon, poking holes in the cartoon for pouncing, applying the intonaco coat of plaster on their tile, pouncing and painting. The children are encouraged to use all of the tools associated with each step.

There were times when Van Gogh and Monet would have been without canvas and paints had it not been for the generosity of Julien 'Pere' Tanguy, the Montmarte art store proprietor turned benefactor, who often accepted their paintings in exchange for supplies. Much to the dismay of Madame Tanguy, this fatherly man was also known to advance supplies to young artists who had no means of repayment. With so many of his customers paying in art, he became known as an eccentric collector and art dealer, displaying paintings in his shop windows. Artists began meeting at the shop, exchanging ideas and eventually creating new styles and the Impressionist techniques that enrich society today.

The modern day equivalent of Tanguy's art shop for the Italian art scene is Zecchi Colori Art Supply store, located in the center of Florence, the birthplace of the15th century Italian Renaissance. Sitting across the cobblestone street with a front-door view of the Duomo, Zecchi's supplies artists world wide with hard to find paints and traditional materials. With an ancient fresco built into its fasade, the shop also serves as an iconic leader in restoration techniques. Dedicated to the application techniques derived from masters who used the materials centuries ago, Zecchi's fine materials bring life to restoration efforts all over Florence. And similar to the generous traditions of Montmarte's Tanguy, Zecchi's occasionally becomes patron subsidizer, helping to create opportunities for new businesses and spread knowledge of old techniques far outside of mother Italy.

Believing that the resurrection and proliferation of fresco art to be his true mission in life, iLia Anossov established The Fresco School in 1997. He says, 'the complex information bank and technological achievements of our age tempt and often force us to take a 'short cut' in visual arts education.' Consequently, although fresco is the most widely practiced art technique of all the ages since the beginning of human history, this endangered art form is not generally taught in mainstream universities or art schools and is often referred to as a lost or dying art.

The Fresco School is designed to be accessible for anyone, both from beginners and children to professional artists. The program has attracted art educators and interested non-professionals from around the globe. The only year round school of it's kind in the world, The Fresco School focuses the curriculum on an array of classes of the buon (true) fresco techniques of classic artists such as Michelangelo, Rafael and Diego Rivera. The Fresco School's workshops and classes range from introductory to advanced, to private tutorials, fresco restoration and mural painting seminars as well as the unique opportunity to learn fresco plaster directly from Ian Hardwick.

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.

FrescoSchool.org
Our curriculum is focused on the traditional buon (true) fresco technique. Fresco School offers a full spectrum of fresco workshops and classes from introductory level lessons to advanced fresco programs and private fresco tutoring. Our curriculum also includes supplemental fresco restoration and mural painting seminars.

Now you can schedule your private fresco workshop by requesting convenient for you date throughout the calendar year. And you can do it right on the website using our new calendar feature. You can configure your own fresco program, length and complexity and book the time to attend. The costs are more then accessible and do fit virtually any budget.

The site also features free and simple registration form that provides you with the opportunity to request classes and elements that you desire or can not find. Like demonstrations and specialty, training, assisted workstation rentals, plastering support, etc.

Upcoming, non-private Workshops:

Coppola Brothers, who have always been involved in the art community, along with Master fresco painter, iLia Anossov, teamed up in an effort to offer something to artists that had never been available in the United States before. In January of 2003 Coppola Brothers Company took over the responsibility of supplying Fresco School Workshop students and the art community at large with all of the hard to find fresco art supplies and materials. All of the cost savings are passed directly to the Fresco School students by offsetting their individual materials costs. Most of the materials that Coppola Bros. Company distributes through 'The fresco Shop' are imported directly from Italy.

Coppola Brothers Company is a very unique contracting firm. They specialize in the application of authentic Italian plasters and other very interesting historic materials from around the world. They concentrate on using application techniques that are derived from the Masters who originally used these materials centuries ago. 'There are similar products available on the market today,' says owner and chief researcher, Mitchell Nussbaum, 'but most are synthetic representations of the originals. If you want true Italian plaster walls, you need to start out with the real thing. But that's only half of the equation,' says Mitchell. ' You must have a crew of applicators that are trained in mixing, coloring, preparing, and applying these plasters properly. These are all seamless applications,' says Mitchell, 'and must be organized very precisely. After three, five, or even ten men complete a wall or ceiling, it must appear that it was all done by only one hand. That's the trick.'

Although the artist portfolio review is required to enroll in this private program, we do not discriminate and set harsh requirements that needed to be met by a potential student. The portfolio review is more for developing the individual (personal) structure of the workshop rather then a review of a professional or exhibition history of the student. This workshop has been attended by established artists that were offered fresco commissions by their patrons, university professors researching a possibility of adding fresco programs to their school's curriculum as well as mid-carrier artists or art students interested in more refined art education then is offered by mainstream art schools. This workshop takes place in Los Angeles at The Fresco School.

"Life begins at the edge of your comfort zone" is a phrase from the "Conversation with God" books. As an oil painter of 24 years experience, I am comfortable using a layered oil painting technique that I developed over the years. My recent fresco class with Ilia and Ian took me out of my comfort zone in oils and thrust me into the uncomfortable realm of a new medium.

Fresco Mortar or Plaster is made of high calcium lime putty and "aggregate" which, most commonly is washed river sand, marble meal, volcanic tuff or the combination of it. The proportion of the mortar or plaster mix generally is:

1 part lime putty : 2 parts aggregate (sand)

or

5 parts lime putty : 8 parts aggregate (sand)

Washed River Sand is the best aggregate for making a fresco plaster, it is clean from impurities such as silica, dust, clay, oranic particles, and the biggest enemy of all plasters - SALTs. This sand is also most likely to be of a right angular shape needed for "proper interlocking".

Traditionally there are five distinctive fresco plaster coats (from last to first):

more at:

Fresco-Techniques.com

Why an Introduction to Fresco Class?

After many years of teaching frescos classes, and evaluating the feedback received from prior students, The Fresco School put much thought into designing an introductory 3-day workshop. Three days, we felt was needed to introduce to new students the very important basic fresco techniques; the preparation of the cartoon sketches, applying plaster, exposure to mixing and grinding natural pigments, and the painting process.

By Sylvia Hunt

On July 18-19 of 2005 as part of Fresco School's outreach program, Children's Fresco workshop took place in Los Angeles. Workshop was conducted by the founder and instructor of the Fresco School, iLia Anossov and me, and what a joy this was, so here is how this adventure unfolded . . .

The kids, approximately 22 of them, ages ranging from 5 to 12 yrs, were from the Summer Camp of Bryan Hawkins Kenpo Karate School, and showed up early Monday all very excited about the painting adventure, although not really quite sure what a fresco was. . .

Day 1: Drawing

They gathered in the fresco studio and Ilia began the day with a short overview of the meaning of 'fresco' and displayed an exhibit made by his son, Phillipe, which showed the different steps in making a fresco.

We had them choose from a selection of drawings of different Karate symbols and the children, all happy with their choice, traced them on tracing paper. We had them decide what two colors they wanted to use; one for background, one for Karate symbol, and we wrote these on each drawing for the next day.

SPECIAL FRESCO SCHOOL ANNOUNCEMENT FOR FALL 2005 LOS ANGELES, CA

Due to many factors there will be a few changes (including the pricing) for our Fresco Workshops.

Cost of the workshop (materials included) - $450 (special discounts for groups). This introductory fresco program is targeted mainly to Los Angeles, however we are looking into possibilities of including other locations.

Fresco School
is proud to announce it's new 10 week long fresco painting program in Los Angeles!

The program starts with two independent sessions:

Summer Session starts June 23rd September the 3rd.

Summer/Fall Session starts July 14 till October 1st

Only 4 students are accepted for each session.

Each session begins with 5 day intensive buon fresco workshop and continues with weekly classes, fresco painting and fresco plastering practice sessions.
Students will be provided with all necessary tools and materials for scheduled classes as well as an equipped fresco workstation is assigned to each student at our studio in Playa Vista (Marina Del Rey, Los Angeles) for the duration of the program (10 weeks) for independent and instructor assisted fresco practice.

You will learn and practice:

New dates for FrescoSchool's Los Angeles 5 day Professional Fresco Workshop have been announced - May 26th - 30th! This workshop takes place in Fresco School's new Playa Vista Studio in Los Angeles that iLia Anossov, school's founder and head instructor runs in association with Nathan Zakheim - a reknown fresco restorer and conservator.
to enroll please follow this link (click this line)

The new studio is not "new" to fresco and Fresco School - Nathan has completed 2 year long restoration of a 65 feet long fresco by Ramos Martinez which it was regularly visited by iLia and his students for Nathan's seminar on fresco restoration and conservation.

iLia and Nathan decided to join forces and after Nathans restoration project was finished the studio became Fresco School's homebase offering long term classes and "fresco workstations" and our popular "5 day Professional Fresco Workshop" (for upcoming May 26-30 class click here).

Karen Bakke travelled from Fargo, ND to take our Fresco Workshop this March, here is her review of the class:

New chapters have been added to Fresco-Techniques.com Website

Studio Setup.

Mostly some extra suff that you will need to have and ways to keep plaster and plaster dust away from the rest of the studio. Also you will need a few shelves for storing fresco colors and pigments - that old box housing a pile of paint tubes, just wont do.

Ideally you will have a few plastic shelving units (available in most home/office stores) with drawers size about 10" wide 3" deep and 14" long for your dry pigments. A separate heavy duty shelf with table for your plastering and about 6'X 6' section of the wall prepared with scratch and arriccio plaster coats for practice.

more at Fresco Studio Setup

Fresco Cartoon.

Fresco Cartoon is the most important step in creation of Fresco - it is your "blueprint" for all of the future work. The layout of giornatas, values, shadows, composition - all those and other elements are developed during this step.
"Cartoon" - full scale drawing of the future fresco. Cartoons are drawn on regular paper with pencil, graphite, charcoal, sepia chalk, etc., etc. The purpose of a cartoon is a thorough study and final rendition of the composition, light, shadow, details of the future fresco, it is a preparatory drawing taken to the next level. Correctly done cartoon is a "stand along" artwork. Although optional in other painting mediums, Cartoon is essential when paintng in Fresco not only as the main guideline for transferring the design onto freshly laid (fresco) plaster, but also as the main tool and method of understanding and orcestrating the steps for painting of the corresponding fresco.

more at Fresco Cartoon

Truefresco.org is proud to announce a new dimension to its ever growing web database of fresco knowledge - Fresco-Techniques.com. The website is a work in progress publishing the Internet version of iLia Anossov's upcoming book on Fresco Painting Techniques. This website is another effort of iLia Anossov and the Fresco School's team dedicated to foster the rebirth of fresco throughout the world, while adding another dimension to our online information. This site is intended to provide you with detailed guides for creating and recognizing frescos, whether it be Buon (True) Fresco, Secco Fresco or Faux Fresco. The website will give you the knowledge and on-hand tutorials to complete a wall fresco, fresco panel or decorative fresco tile.

The Fresco School is proud to announce a five day fresco workshop running from March 17th through the 21st. For this workshop The Fresco School continues their collaboration with renowned fresco conservator Nathan Zakheim. The combination of such knowledge and talent provides a rare and rewarding opportunity for the school's students. It is impossible to predict when a class of this magnitude will be offered again.

The students who attend these classes become acquainted with all the steps of buon fresco painting: preparation of the cartoon, mixing colors, grinding pigments, building plaster coats, laying intonaco, methods of joining giornatas, and climate/moisture control. They will practice building color and working with values and shadows. The students will be shown how to achieve richness of color using transparent fresco paints through the use of verdaccio under-painting. In addition to learning the classical methods, the student will also be instructed in modern and experimental fresco techniques.

The Fresco School is proud to announce a five day fresco workshop running from January 13-17. For this workshop, iLia Anossov and Ian Hardwick have joined forces with renowned fresco concervator Nathan Zakheim. A combination of such talent is extraordinary and is something that should not be missed.

The Fresco School has perfected a style in which all who are interested can learn. The head instructor at the school, iLia Anossov, understands that people need to be introduced to a complicated medium such as fresco in a form that they know and understand. He begins by allowing each student to work with images they chose, in a style they are comfortable with.

The Fresco School has held yet another successful workshop demonstrating their unique trademark, hands-on professional level instruction delivered with technical precision and personal passion that enables and inspires their students to create successful, true to classic buon fresco technique works of art the moment they enter the class whether the student is a professional artist, novice or an art student. .

This class was the first to take place in Baltimore, MD. Until this point students who wanted to take our classes had to come to the Los Angeles area. Due to the rapid increase in demand and invaluable efforts of K. J. Wolf a fresco artist and our East Coast Director, the school is in the process of expanding. This workshop held from August 18th to the 22nd took place in the sanctuary of a turn of the century Methodist Church in downtown Baltimore. The stained glass windows and massive stone walls created an atmosphere ideal for our students and the growth of their creativity resulting in 44 original boun frescoes.

by Sylvia Hunt, fresco artist

To the sounds of classical music, I sat down last Sunday, and I poured out my dry pigment of Verdaccio into a little pile, onto my glass top table, making sure as Wolf said, that everything was kept very clean and pure. I made a small well in the center of the pigment, and poured a small amount of distilled water into this center. There were no chemicals. Just the essence of the pure earth pigment, the water, and me. And so I began.
I started with Verdaccio, because to me, it is the 'mother' of all the paints and most importantly will be what I use for my underpainting. Verdaccio is a dark green, brown earth substance. I am mixing a limited amount of pigments for my palette; ochres, sienna, umber, red, terre verde, ultramarine, and bianco san giovani. In fresco, not many colors are needed, as the colors are kept simple, and beauty grows out of the underpainting and the different layers of paint which form depth.

by K.J. Wolf - fresco artist
Director, The Fresco School of Los Angeles (East Coast)

Once upon a time about four years ago, when the heat was stifling and I was in a small studio in Los Angeles, sifting sand to make a Fresco, I wondered what I had been dreaming about all the long years in search for just such an experience. Two chimney smoking and energetic guys, one from Russia and the other from the United Kingdom, were speaking and demonstrating at a wizard speed the deft and rich art of preparing a surface (like a skin) that would hold a glimmering and shimmering painting in lime plaster, called Fresco.

I had always wanted to paint as the masters of the Renaissance had, and here was my opportunity. I had traveled 3000 miles within the United States to find this experience, as no other was available, not even in the home of Fresco, Italy. The irony that it was, if not in my own backyard, was that it was just on the other side of the country from me.

Did you wonder how Pompeians did those deep seamless backgrounds of their frescoes?

New website featuring illustrated walkthrough of iLia Anossov's Dolphin Fresco went live today at http://DolphinFresco.com. Site features step-by-step photographs of the technique, materials used and guide.

Dolphin Fresco is a fine example of combining Ancient Pompeian Fresco method, when colored Intonaco Plaster was used to achieve uniformity of background color, Early Mediterranean laconic imagery design and Renaissance style of verdaccio underpainting is used to create a new interpretation of Classic Theme seamlessly integrated into contemporary setting.

The Fresco Shop at TrueFresco.com is undergoing a fresh beginning. With the advent of our new fresco school in Baltimore and the soon to begin restoration and fresco project at the St. John's Cathedral, and the increasing demand for frescoes around the US, it became essential to create a complete and easily accessible resource for the hard to find fresco art supplies and materials needed by the fresco artist.

The artists at the first Baltimore workshop, held earlier this month, were the first to see some of the authentic fresco products that will become the foundation items that the Fresco Shop will sell.

With the help of Mitchell Nussbaum of Coppola Bros. Company, the renowned Italian plastering firm in Scottsdale, Arizona, TrueFresco.Com Fresco Shop will now be able to deliver these sought after fresco supplies to the beginning artist as well as for professional fresco painter. The Shop will be configured to supply both small and large fresco projects as a one-stop fresco shop.

The Fresco School is proud to announce there new project. A creation of the buon fresco cycle in St John's of Baltimore City United Methodist Church is soon to begin. Presently the church is working on the restoration of its sanctuary.
As it is planned, the project will span over 2-7 years, iLia Anossov students will take major part in working on frescoes as well as local community members will be given the opportunity to participate and learn. Church's own housing facility is used to setup FrescoSchool's Baltimore location.
Inaugural 5-day buon fresco workshop is
taking place on August 18th-22nd 2004.


To Register, click this line 2 openings available!

This partnership offers very exciting possibilities. Not only will the students enrolled in these classes learn the priceless fresco techniques present in all our classes, they will have the opportunity to leave a timeless mark on the sanctuary itself.
The higher level classes will have the opportunity to decorate the interior of the church with their own frescos, while they continue their study of fresco painting.

"Cartoon" - full scale drawing of the future fresco. Cartoons are drawn on regular paper with pencil, graphite, charcoal, sepia chalk, etc., etc. The purpose of a cartoon is a thorough study and final rendition of the composition, light, shadow, details of the future fresco, it is a preparatory drawing taken to the next level. Correctly done cartoon is a "stand along" artwork. Although optional in other painting mediums, Cartoon is essential when paintng in Fresco not only as the main guideline for transferring the design onto freshly laid (fresco) plaster, but also as the main tool and method of understanding and orcestrating the steps for painting of the corresponding fresco.

iLia Anossov believes that most efficient way to introduce artists to a new and complicated medium such as Fresco as well as explain and demonstrate techniques of the Masters is to allow students to work from the images of their own selection. Images and styles that each student feel comfortable with and had painted in other mediums. During the workshop Mr. Anossov is working individually with each student. His guidance and advice are targeted specifically to the individual student and his/her personal style. With this approach each student has an opportunity to learn the techniques of the Great Masters within the comfort of their own style and/or their own selection of the image.

This Spring and Summer our classes in Los Angeles Will be held at the following dates:

May 13th, Fri. - 17th, Mon
June 3rd, Fri. - 7th, Mon
June 17th, Fri. - 21st, Mon

These courses consist of up to five days of intensive instruction where you will learn how to create true (buon) fresco as artists have done for centuries. At the end of June we are scheduled to go to the Fauxcadamy Awards in Las Vegas to hold a "Fresco Painting - Contemporary Tradition" demonstration, seminar/lecture, and to judge the Awards' entries. Soon after the conclusion of these events we will begin a large scale fresco project in a church in Baltimore. These events will unfortunately keep our regular workshops schedule unclear for the rest of the summer and fall. Unfortunately, we will be able to enroll only 20 people for this set of classes - it is our policy to deliver the maximum undivided attention to each by keeping our workshops within 5-7 artists per class.

Workshop configurations consist of 1 to 5 day classes:
To enroll and/or learn more - click here
To see and hear via downloadable video interviews what others have to say about our program - use this link.

or start at our Fresco Workshop's home page http://FrescoSchool.com

This fascinating fresco demonstration is an excellent opportunity for you to get familiar with the creative process and concept of buon (true) fresco - painting on wet plaster. iLia Anossov, Nathan Zakheim, and Masha Zakheim will introduce their audience to the traditional method of the true (buon) fresco and erase most of the misconception about traditional buon fresco technique that one may currently have.

The event takes place on June 29th, 2004 at Venetian Hotel Las Vegas, Nevada as part of 2004 Fauxcademy Awards week.

The TrueFresco Art Network, Fresco Society/Foundation and Fresco School would like to wish you all a happy holiday season and hope that it finds you in good spirits.

The Fresco School (FrescoSchool.com) would also like to extend an invitation to all who are interested to attend a 3 day workshop occuring in the first month of the new year. The work shop is schedualed to take place the 23rd, 24th, and 25th of January. We hope that these times work well for you. By holding our classes on the weekend we have tried to accomodate ourselves into your busy scheduals so as many people as possible can learn about the beauty of fresco painting. More information about these classes and enrollment form are available at our website here. We hope to see you there.

Again we wish you a safe and happy holiday season.

This is the question that I encounter the most. The story of fresco painting began over 35,000 years ago in the caves of modern France where the Neolithic man applied natural earth pigments to the moist limestone walls of his cave to illustrate his life and beliefs. Of cause Neolithic man did not call his paintings frescoes. So as every civilization there after had own name for the technique used for the magnificent wall paintings found in it's most treasured environments, temples, public spaces and homes - the only technique that allows us to see those masterpieces thousands of years after they were created. Through the years this technique has been refined and now we know it as Buon (true) Fresco.

During the Renaissance fresco used to be regarded as 'The Mother of All Arts'. Today we understand this as a glamorous statement since the fresco is so grand and we have all these gigantic palaces and cathedrals full of frescos. But at that time the true meaning of the title was that fresco painting requires working with pure pigments and natural elements and it teaches you the understanding of color and relation with itself, understanding of composition and perspective as well as everything else needed in art. Every medium we use today comes from this "simple" pigment and water technique. Then we added other mediums to adapt to other circumstances. But true understanding of color could only come from working with the pure pigment and understanding how it relates to others.

iLia Anossov is one of only a very small handful of contemporary fresco masters in the US. He maintains a studio loft in downtown Los Angeles that he uses to teach the techniques of true fresco painting to aspiring students. iLia is able to accomplish this through a team approach. Together with Ian Hardwick, plasterer extraordinaire and Glenn Fischer, pigment and production specialist - both spectacular artists in their own discipline - iLia breathes life into the age old art of true fresco.

for fresco workshop info/schedule go to: http://FrescoSchool.com

Nationwide Fresco Painting Workshop Program's (http://FrescoSchool.com) class schedule for Los Angeles is in the process of forming. Classes will be announced on August 15th.

We are asking everyone interested to attend our 5-day Fresco Workshop in Los Angeles to contact us with preferable month/date for the classes and we will work to adjust our plans to accommodate everyone's requests. August 15th is a dead line for suggestions.

This workshop is for all artists, previous fresco painting experience is not required.
During our 5-day professional buon fresco workshop you will learn:

Our June 2003 Fresco Painting Workshop was exceptionally successful and proved to be a major event in contemporary fresco revival. Each student has completed a fresco that would challenge an artist with prior fresco experience, however for most of our class that was their first one. After over 3 years in operation "Nationwide Fresco Painting Workshop Program" has picked up speed and extended its class length from 2-days to 2-weeks of Buon Fresco Painting running bimonthly in Los Angeles along with workshops scheduled across the nation. During Los Angeles 2-week of Buon Fresco students can pick from several class offers, but our intensive 5-day Professional program is limited to 5-6 people per class. Our next class begins on August 7th (enroll here) and there is only one space left. There is a new highlight of Los Angeles Buon Fresco Weeks - lecture on fresco relocation/restoration Nathan Zakheim, a leading fresco restorer/conservator. iLia Anossov and Mr. Zakheim have joined forces to generate support for a major fresco painting project