Applying a fresco with your own hands isa fairly ancient art, which has always been distinguished by its beauty and unusualness. Fresco is considered to be the application of painting on a plastered wall, which in our days can be either stenciled or hand-painted.
Modern frescoes can be relief, colored,solid, made under a stencil and manually. Fresco has many advantages over other types of finishing. Your image will be considered unique even if you apply it through a stencil. And this way you can make both a separate wall and its part, which will not spoil the overall interior and style of the room. To this we can add the durability of such a coating. Let's consider how to make a fresco yourself.
Tips for working with frescoes
Fresco, hand-painted in Byzantine styletradition, is considered one of the most expensive. So, when applying a fresco to a surface, you need to take into account the degree of personal artistic inclinations in order to determine how exactly you will apply the image to the wall. If you have drawing abilities, even small ones, you can show your imagination and draw the image by hand. In this case, you yourself choose the level of complexity of the image and its specific details. You can choose a plot and copy it from some source, and then add a few design details from yourself. Even if the drawing is not perfect, it will still be yours, and this indicates its uniqueness. If you do not have sufficient creative abilities in terms of fine art, then you can make a fresco yourself in a simpler way. It consists in the fact that a digital fresco is applied to the plaster as a stencil. In this case, the image is simply transferred to the surface from special paper. Then you yourself can give it colors and shades along the contours, to a greater or lesser extent pay attention to small accents. But first you need to buy such a stencil or buy it in a special store, or make it yourself using a computer and wide-format printing. Now you can decide which method is easier and more convenient to apply a beautiful painting. Any image can be applied to the plaster, from a simple drawing to a complex photograph of a real person. It will only be a matter of cost and labor. But, as practice shows, any fresco will not cost too much. Return to contents</a>
Wall surface preparation
Already on the prepared wall surfacethe markings for the life-size fresco are applied. You can start working on the fresco. It is carried out in several stages, each of which is important and necessary in its own way. Pay special attention to preparing the wall before applying the drawing so that the fresco is durable. So, first, we free the surface from the old coating. This must be done as carefully as possible, without sparing the old plaster and putty, which is already beginning to crumble or even crack a little in some places. All defects still need to be repaired. When this is done, thoroughly sweep the dust off the wall with a dry rag or brush, and then thickly cover the surface with a primer. This is necessary for better adhesion to the plaster compositions. Wait until the primer is completely absorbed, and then proceed to the next work. Subsequent finishing consists of correcting wall defects. For these purposes, ordinary cement plaster and good putty are used. Using these tools, you should seal all the cracks and potholes on the surface of the wall, then lightly sand these areas with a flat board soaked in water. When everything dries, cover the wall with a primer again, and after absorption, proceed to applying the main layer of plaster. You can use regular high-quality cement-based plaster with sand. But to improve its properties, it is better to add a little binder, which can be gypsum or a small amount of plasticizers. The plaster is applied with a trowel or spatula. Try to do everything smoothly at once, so as not to correct mistakes later. Immediately do light sanding using the method described above. Next, to achieve ideal smoothness, cover the wall with putty. After the putty dries, you need to cover the wall with a primer again. To do this, choose a primer composition of higher quality so that it can not only help fix the paint, but also prevent the appearance of dampness or fungus on the wall. The preparatory work can be considered complete. Return to the table of contents</a>
Mural painting by different methods
The relief fresco is applied to the entire wall andis done in one color scheme. Now you can get down to creative work. Regardless of the method you use to apply the fresco (with or without a stencil), you will definitely need acrylic paints of the desired colors, a brush with artificial bristles and two brushes with natural bristles. Choose the most convenient thickness of brushes for you right away, depending on the selected design. You will also need to stock up on a soft, clean cloth, high-quality transparent varnish and a brush for applying it, a wide lead, a sharp pencil and a washcloth. If you want to see the effect of antiquity, you can also buy paint based on craquelure (gives cracking), gold or silver powder. Return to the table of contents</a>DIY Wall Drawing
The fresco design can be either traditional orand modern themes. Start applying the pattern from the top, gradually moving to the bottom. This will be much more convenient, you will not smear the paint and will not get dirty. First, work on the larger elements, and then the smaller ones. It will be even better to work on the very small details after the main part of the drawing has dried. If you want to make cracks, carefully apply craquelure paint to this place. If you want to slightly age the drawing or give it more grandeur and classicism, then use gilded or silver powder. However, remember: craquelure is applied to dried paint, and powder - to still slightly fresh. After drying, you can easily remove its excess by rubbing with a sponge. After the entire drawing has completely dried, all that remains is to cover the surface with a protective transparent varnish. To do this, use a wide brush. In this case, the varnish serves both as protection and as an additional decorative element. So, if you want a glossy picture, cover the image with two or even three layers of varnish. But to achieve a matte effect, one layer will be enough. This will also be enough to reliably protect the surface in the future. Return to the table of contents</a>Applying a fresco using a slate stencilLet's consider the process of applying a fresco using a stencil. This work is not much different, since the basic principles of applying paints and varnish remain exactly the same. But before working with paints, you need to make a sketch of the drawing. So, turn your sketch over and paint it completely with a wide pencil lead. Then the sketch with the painted side is pressed tightly to the wall, and on its front side all the lines are drawn with a pencil with force. Do not be afraid to scratch the sketch, in some cases this is even better, since the outline will be visible more clearly on the surface of the wall. It is better to work together, since one person should hold the sketch so that it does not move during the transfer of the drawing. When the sketch is transferred, start finishing it using the above-described method, but do not make the drawing yourself, but work along the outline. Feel free to experiment with different shades and the degree of thickness of the lines. Return to the table of contents</a>Other easier methods of applying frescoThere are also stencils that are made of very thin paper. Such paper is first coated with a special glue for stencils on the back side, after which this side is applied to the wall and carefully pressed in all places. And after complete setting and drying, paints are applied directly to it. There is another, simpler way to apply a fresco to a wall. This means gluing a regular canvas with a pattern, which will stick just like wallpaper. To do this, the surface is pre-lined, glue for non-woven wallpaper is applied to it, and the fresco on special paper is immediately glued to it. After drying, the canvas is leveled and needs to be varnished. The work on applying the fresco can be considered complete. It is not difficult, and even interesting and exciting, especially for people who like to do art. Therefore, do not be afraid and start decorating individual walls or parts of them in any room with a fresco.
