Natural Pigments | Fresco Painting Workshops

Wall painting (Second Style), 1st century B.C., Fresco, Villa of Mysteries, Pompeii, Italy

This is a three-day intensive workshop on buon fresco painting with an emphasis on the historical technique as practiced in medieval Byzantium and Italy. This workshop is an introduction to the technique of fresco painting with instruction on fresco secco painting.

This three-day workshop will give you the skills needed to complete fresco painting for walls and portable panels. The course begins with hands-on instruction on applying plaster. Using a prototype you draw and paint the cartoon, transfer it to the plaster and begin painting the image. At the end of this workshop you will complete a portable fresco to take home with you.

We spend some time in the morning organizing our work places and learning about fresco painting technique. You are introduced to fresco materials and tools, their application and sources. Next, you will learn about the fresco "cartoon," which is a full-color preparatory drawing. We provide several different images for you to chose from to use as your prototype for your fresco painting at the workshop. In the afternoon, you draw the cartoon by transferring the image from a reproduction onto tracing paper, adjust and refine the cartoon and then transfer the drawing onto a piece of paper. We learn about traditional fresco pigments by grinding, preparing and testing fresco paints. You will then paint the cartoon in color, as if it was the final fresco image.

Materials used in fresco are lime and sand

A metal mesh (we typically use diamond metal lath) is a great innovation for fresco painting, because it can hold the plaster onto any surface, including wood. Fresco plaster is comprised of two basic ingredients: lime putty and sand. Above, students apply plaster to a wood frame in preparation for painting.

Applying the first colors in the portable fresco panel

Student working from a full-color cartoon of the picture

A full-color cartoon of the picture is prepared before painting can begin. This cartoon is transferred to the panel by tracing it onto the wet plaster. At left, a student is applying a background color on the wet plaster. Shown at right is the cartoon (above) used as the model to paint the fresco panel (below).

We prepare the portable fresco panel for painting by preparing the plaster composed of two basic ingredients -- lime putty and sand --and then apply the layer of plaster in the portable fresco panel. While this plaster is becoming ready for painting, we transfer the cartoons onto the fresh plaster and prepare our pigments. We then being painting on to the wet plaster.

First, the local colors are applied to the large areas of the image, such as the background, allowing the pigment to adhere to the fresh lime. Afterwards, the figure is drawn and all the shadows elaborated with green earth and red ocher. These parts must be done first. The highlights are done later, because lime is used as white, which helps with the process of adhering the pigments to the plaster. When the work is finished, the colors appear very saturated, but after some days some colors, like lapis lazuli, yellow ocher, green earth and others, when mixed with lime, tend to appear lighter, whereas red ocher and vine black tend to become darker. It is very important to remember this feature of fresco painting and pay very close attention to this when you work with colors.

In the morning, we check our paintings and prepare materials for secco painting. We then begin the secco painting to highlights and some colors that require this technique. We finish our painting in the early afternoon.


Fra Angelico. Annunciation. c.1450, Fresco 230 x 297cm, Museo di San Marco, Florence, Italy	Alessandro Botticelli. The Punishment of Korah, 1481/82, Fresco, Sistine Chapel, Rome, Italy	Peter von Cornelius, Joseph Makes Himself Known to his Brothers, c.1816/17, Fresco 236 x 290cm, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin-Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin, Germany

If you want to learn the technique of buon and secco fresco painting, you should attend this workshop. This workshop is designed for those with little or no experience in fresco painting, or for more advanced students who want a refresher course.

Willits, California USA
The workshop will be held at Natural Pigments located at 1250 Blosser Lane, Willits, California. Willits is a small town nestled in California's famous redwood groves, about three hours north of San Francisco and forty minutes from away from the spectacular northern California coast.

Santa Fe, New Mexico USA
The location of the workshop is Warehouse 21, 1614 Paseo de Peralta (for more information and directions to this location, visit the Warehouse 21 web site), in the downtown area of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

We have provided a complete list of materials that you will need at the workshop. In the list, we've indicated what materials will be available for you at the workshop and what supplies you can either purchase in advance from Natural Pigments or bring with you to the workshop. You can find the complete list here:

The tuition of $425 also includes the fresco plaster, portable fresco panel and other supplies required for the workshop. However, you will need pigments, brushes and tools that you can bring to the workshop or purchase from Natural Pigments. To see what supplies are needed at the workshop, please visit Fresco Painting Supplies.

George O'Hanlon is a painter and founder of Natural Pigments that supplies artists worldwide with traditional painting supplies. He teaches courses on different painting techniques, such as egg tempera and fresco, and about traditional and historical artists materials, such as pigments, preparing panels for painting with traditional gesso, gilding, etc. He is also founder of the non-profit organization, Iconofile, that provides education for individuals and groups on sacred art painting techniques, especially that of icon paintings.