fresco

I want to give you an impression of one of my projects. There was a small bathroom, about 4 sqare meters wide and 220cm high. My task: make the room look bigger than it is. The painting had to be not to dark, because there was only a small window to the east, and not a single amount of light should be wasted by darkening the walls. There were white tiles, both on the lower parts of the walls and on the floor, the upper walls and ceiling were covered with solid layers of white color. So I started painting the walls of the room, modifying the decoration of an old roman villa ...

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After transferring the preliminary outlining to the wall, I went to paint the walls of the room, using a special kind of emulsion color to work quickly with, but also allowing to modify the design if necessary. First I applied the colour using a spatula, then I layed upon this base a thin glaze of different colours, finishing with slight spots of diluted colour. The vains in white marble I imitated using a black chalk of wax, drawing and trembling with it onto the fresh paint and equalizing it in an instant with a broad brush. Some time later, when you are shure that the paint has dried, you might as well finish with a layer of varnish. Finally, the arch stucco is assembled with mortar to the wall.

painting the ceiling

Starting with the ceiling, I had to paint my composition first in original scale (2 x 2 m) on a large piece of thick paper, due to the complex shapes of plants and animals in combination with atmospherical effects of light and shade. After transferring the design to thin transparent paper the preliminary outlining is traced to the ceiling and worked out with emulsion color while laying on a trestle. For the painter this proceeding in painting the ceiling, as one might guess, is not so comfortable, there is paint dripping down to your face and you get a very stiff neck after some hours. But after the work is done, the bright, airy effect of a painted sky rewards for the preceding obstacles.

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