10_Bob paints fresco

Bob Goldman painted a fresco at The Drawing Studio on 15 September, 2009. The whole process went very smoothly this time. I plastered the tile at the Sculpture Resource Center, and then drove it to the drawing session in downtown Tucson in the evening. We left the tile covered in the plastic box for a few days, and it was still a bit wet but had not cracked yet.

Final piece done in about 2 hours:


Soaked Hardibacker tile in distilled water for 20 minutes:


One scoop of marble sand:


One scoop of fresco lime:


Mixed sand and lime with putty knife:


Mix probably wetter than it should be:


Waited until surface of tile dried, so that it no longer glistened:


Spread fresco plaster on tile:


Sprayed trowel with distilled water, which made the tool easier to use. Also sprayed putty knife with distilled water and beveled the edges:


Tile glistened:


Put glistening tile in plastic box in order to carry it:


Plastic box was not airtight:


Gathered all the materials to paint fresco and put them in a busboy tub:


Stacked and ready to carry:


Loaded fresco materials in my car:


Set-up at The Drawing Studio:


Bob used a full color Mayacrom palette:


First sitting:


Cecil posed:


Second sitting:

Bob signing the work:


Placed in box to transport. Left covered in box for several days, and the fresco stayed a bit damp, but did not crack:

09_Fresco with marble dust

Gonzalo Espinosa painted a fresco on with marble dust and high quality fresco lime, aged 2 years, from Sinopia (on 14 September, 2009). That combination made a beautiful intonaco fresco plaster paste, drier and thicker than bread dough, which applied smoothly like butter. However the fresco started cracking severely soon after he started painting. I think the support was too dry. We should have soaked the Hardibacker tile overnight, instead of just for 15 minutes.



Marble dust and fresco lime from Sinopia:


Soaked Hardibacker cement tile for 15 minutes:


Half scoop of marble dust:


Half scoop of Sinopia lime:


It seemed too dry to mix at first:


Thoroughly mixed, the marble dust fresco plaster made a nice paste:


The fresco plaster spread smoothly like butter:


Covered tile:


Troweling polished the intonaco fresco plaster:


Trimmed the edges:


Tile polished and glistening, will dry soon enough to paint on:


Set up with Mayan Blue only:


Maestro Gonzalo begins:


First strokes:


Fills space:


Hair strokes transparent, and blended a bit:






Fresco started cracking while Gonzalo was still painting:



Covered in cracks, days later, after fresco dried:

08_My fresco

I plastered a fresco tile at the Sculpture Resource Center, and then drove it over to The Drawing Studio to paint on. This was during a life drawing session, on 12 September, 2009. My goal was to make the fresco tiles portable, and this experiment proved that I could plaster in one place, and paint somewhere else. The key might be keeping the tile wet inside what is essentially a Tupperware box, the Masterson Palette Seal.

Final fresco. I don't always draw what I see:


Soaked the Hardibacker tile for 15 minutes in distilled water:


Bubbles while soaking:


One scoop of sand:


One scoop of fresco lime:


Ready to mix with putty knife:


Mix started:

Mix thoroughly:

Waited for the surface water to evaporate:


Tile no longer glistened:


Mix stiff, but could be drier:


Put fresco plaster on tile:


Troweled tile. Did not treat edges, and this became a problem later on:


Ugly wet tile:


Tile glistened when I put it in the Masterson Palette Seal box:


Airtight plastic box:


Drove to downtown Tucson, had some extra time, grabbed a tea at Shot in the Dark Cafe:


Went to The Drawing Studio in downtown Tucson:


Set up. Tile matte dr iedbefore the model showed up. I probably have about 5 hours to paint:


Started drawing in Mayan Blue:


During the model breaks I covered the tile to keep it wet:


Used Mayacrom pigments:


Getting wilder:


Filling up the space:


Tile still wet enough to paint when model finished. However the edges were rough and crumbling, threatening to eat into the rest of the fresco:


Put fresco in busboy tub, covered with lid, to slow down drying, hoping to retard cracking: