4-day Private Professional Fresco Painting Workshop offers personally tailored class plan. Class curriculum is developed based on the individual participant’s goals, needs, interest and/or style preferences, including introduction to Sgraffito techniques.

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Fresco School offers personally tailored, style-independent fresco painting curriculum since 1996.

Fresco School – How it works.

“Fresco is a rigorous discipline with little margin for error, that requires you to leave your ego at the door, roll up your sleeves and dig in for the duration. Over the years, iLia has developed a method of teaching the principles of fresco in such a way that it does not infringe on personal style. iLia’s instruction is effective in transmitting not only the technical aspects, but also the proper attitude of respect toward the medium.”

Ioana B. Iconographer.

“I attended the LA fresco workshop with iLia. Eager to learn fresco with no prior knowledge of the history or process, iLia had a tall order to fill. And what a job of filling that order he did.

Karen B. Muralist.

“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.

Ed K. Fine Artist

You met us at our Fresco Seminar or a Fresco Demo, have attended our Introduction to Fresco Workshop or simply found Fresco School searching online and want to know details on how it works?

We just published a detailed guide; Fresco School – How Fresco School Method Works?

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The Lime Cycle and the painting time chart

The key to understanding the medium of fresco is the Lime Cycle:
This illustrated guide will outline the main concept of the fresco medium, its process, historical perspective, techniques.

Slaked Lime is mixed with the inert aggregate such as, any and all – sand, crashed marble, pozzolan (tuff – volcanic ash), etc. General mixing proportion is one (lime) to two (aggregate), exact proportions may vary per style. The work must be completed during the formation of the Calcium Carbonate.

1 – The Medium of Fresco – Carbon Based Art for Carbon Based Life
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This guide will answer the question about how to get started with fresco painting in a fast and easy way.

First step is to get organized and ready – You will be dealing with fresco plaster, drawing (cartoon), natural and lime stable synthetic pigments selection, fresco paint preparation and actual painting.

1. Designate and Set Up the “Plaster Area”:

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I often asked, what binds fresco paint (natural pigment diluted in water) to the surface in fresco painting?

Here is a snapshot of the bucket where I rinse my fresco tools and fresco brushes.

Carbon dioxide from the air reacted with the calcium hydroxide (slaked lime) in the water forming a thin transparent crust. Some water had evaporated and you can see that the process restarts once the water surface opens up.

That is exactly what happens on the plaster and binds pigment to the surface.