15_New School for the Arts and Academics in Tempe

I drove up to Phoenix from Tucson to push portable fresco. Yesterday I mixed the lime with the sand, and stored that plaster in a Tupperware-like container, doing the dirty work back in Tucson. This morning, 31 October 2009 (Halloween), I plastered the tile in Phoenix, and drove to the New School for the Arts and Academics, an art high school in Tempe, to their Saturday morning open figure drawing. Then before noon, I asked MD to do a quick painting sketch on the fresco tile. The idea was to be less obtrusive, by doing most of the preparation ahead of time, outside of the drawing studio. The lime plaster mix seemed to keep fine overnight.


The final quick trial sketch on fresco:


I mixed the sand and lime, one to one, in Tucson the day before, on a plastic cutting board. Then I stored it in the airtight round tub on the lower right, and further sealed the lime plaster in plastic wrap:


Here I laid out the supplies I needed to carry to Phoenix. Lime plaster in tub, trowel, Hardibacker cement tile, plastic box, Masterson Artists Palette Seal:


Metal frame with wire, E6000 glue, brushes, pigments, watercolor palettes. Not shown, distilled water. I also wished I brought a putty knife and a small spray water bottle:



All the supplies fit well in 2 boxes (clean up bucket and sponge extra):



This morning I plastered the tile (and then put it in the plastic box to keep it wet in the car):



Waist high stand set up for painting the model on fresco:


Light stokes in dark pigment to define form:


The pigment was thick enough to paint dark lines:


Ultimately MD said it would have been better to have a larger watercolor palette, in order to pre-mix flesh colors. That way the artist can paint the right flesh color onto the fresco the first time, as fresco color does not lend itself to blending, or wiping off, like oil paint. The few basic pigments were fine, as MD likes working in a limited "Zorn" palette.


"The Loft" drawing and painting atelier at the NSAA.