This antic art have been used in Pompei or even by Michel Angelo in the Sistine Chapel. It's above all the art of taming a special material: the Lime. The word come from dipingere a fresco: paint on a fresh render. This render is made of lime putty and sand. The colors used arepigments compatible with lime thin in water. 

First we'll prepare the tracing paper:
The speed of execution needed for this fresh render paint request a long preparation of the pattern to draw. To prepare the paint, we often made a first try with aquarelle (watercolors) to help thinking about colours, shades, transparency, light...
Then we use a tracing paper to be able to report the pattern on the fresh render.
Then we have to perpare the renderWe render only the area we can paint in a day, it's the giornata. The coat will bring the humidity needed for the fresco. The first coat is a stick coat between the masonry and the other coats. The second one is to straighten the wall (Arricio) and the third one is a thin final coat who receive the pigments (intonaco). 

When the render is strong enough under the fingers, you place the tracing paper, and trace with a sharp piece of woodto just dig lightly the outline.Start colouring the background and slowly add colours to every details anding with the light and shades.The intensity of the colors is based on the number of layers of pigments, between each you need to wait 5minutes and smoothened the surface with the trowel to incorporate the pigments in the lim render.The pictures are from a french website specialise in fresco, in the future i will make a little tutorial and get my skills to the job.But it's a bit of a challenge for my my mason's hands. 

This glaze is a sophisticated variation on the milk paint theme, allowing for beautiful effects of layering one or alternate colors over another. Use on absorbent surfaces, white for a base background or the color of your choice. It also makes a wonderful topcoat over milk paint (lime or borax type) to deepen the color, make it more waterproof, or provide a medium for special effects. 

Ingredients:
- 800ml of quark (made from 5L of milk see the milk paint recipe)
- 125ml of boiled linseed oil
-80gr of earth pigments
To create a glaze, follow the milk paint recipe to create your quark, (watch avideo on making Quark). For this amount (800ml of quark made from 1 gallon of milk) you would add 1 cup of Boiled Linseed Oil. Once your quark is created, rinse the curds with fresh water. Place them in your paint container and whip them with an electric beater while slowly drizzling in the oil until completely emulsified. Next add your pigment or mica powder that has been slaked (soaked) in an equal volume of water to make a homogenous paste. Once fully mixed, dilute with water to create a glaze consistency. Apply with a wide brush suitable for glazing. Each coat will take 2 or 3 hours to dry. Once complete, the oil in the glaze will take several days to completely dry. Wash tools in warm, soapy water. Glaze can be a wonderful medium for experimentation. Some pigments will work better in glazes than others, depending upon their transparency. 

The Sgraffito (mean scratch) is use to dig patterns, grooves or to make lightly texture hollow out appear  or sculpted effects on inside or outside wall.

Apply a first coat of tinted lime render. Let it dry and apply a second coat of 2-3mm thickeness of lime putty and marble dust.

Draw the pattern by tracing or directly if your a good drawer (it's not really my case). If you haven't got the time to end the whole job in one day, take care to cover the surface where you work with wet rag or plastic. 

You must chose well the time when you scratch (fresh, half dry or dry). Most of the time we work on wet surfaces. In fact the work on wet matter, is more porous and more absorbent and let darker mark. If the surface is drying the effect of the scratching will be more hatched and the aspect more intense. For this you won't need specific tools, you can use paint brush, scalpel, shaving blade or whatever you may find handy.
Usually a lime paint is used after to enhance the final effect. 

In the future we'll do one together as you can follow the different steps

Et voilà!!!

To finish the natural paint collection: the egg tempera, this paint is more concerning artists than craftman but it's always good to know it.
Tempera painting preceded oil painting as the favored medium and remains unique in its characteristics producing crisp, luminous effects that differ from oil. Using egg yolk as the binder, this ancient technique produces a water-soluble paint that dries quickly to an insoluble surface allowing for overpainting with more tempera or other mediums. It is a very permanent technique. 


Ingredients:
- Egg yolk
-pigment
-clove oil
Just as with Oil paints, the recipe is a simple mixture of the binder with the pigments to produce the proper consistency. The first step is to properly separate the egg from the white. Break open an egg, cleanly separating the yolk from the white. Keeping the yolk whole, dry it by passing it back and forth in the palms of your hands, drying the palm with each pass. The yolk must then be removed from the sack. This is easily done by holding the yolk over a dish or jar with your thumb and forefinger, piercing the sack to allow the contents to flow out. Discard the empty sac. The yolk itself can then be mixed directly with your dry pigments using water to lengthen, or the yolk can be mixed with one part water in a jar and shaken vigorously to prepare an emulsion. A drop or two of Clove Oil can be added to impart a pleasant smell and retard spoilage. Tempera should be applied over a glue gesso or rigid panel. Remember that tempera dries quickly. Be sure to clean all tools well in hot, soapy water. 

           It's a country recipe from the XVII century in Northern Europe. It's suitable for painting wall directly on render or on a light acrylic sanded coat. It's natural, cheap and very resistant. Its finish is matt. Potato paint will enhance natural pigments, Sienna earth, ocher. It will have a nice patine with time. We use it with a minimum of 2 coats (6hours between each).

-Mash 150g of Potato (or 75g of potato starch), mix it with 3-4 dL of boiling water. Sift it finely to avoid lump.
It must be viscous, like a sticky cream.

-On the side, mix 150g  chalk powder with 1.5L of cold water. Mix 50g of pigments  with 0.5L cold water, and add to the chalk.
Add to the mash and a big spoon of linseed oil. 


-The paint is finished!


You have now 1/2L of paint to cover 5sqm. 
The colour lighten with drying after a few days, make a sample before doing the whole wall.
Make a traditional aspect with a liquid wax to protect and make it stronger. In a water room like bathroom or kitchen, we can apply a coat of ecological varnish, thus the paint will be washable. 

Hi everybody as promise a little article about the faux marble. I will show you the different steps, of course there is plenty of different way to do it, but i will show you the one i have learn. I'm not an expert like some, but i've done a few. The technique we'll see is good to match marble with veinings like white marble of Carrara.

We will work on a creamy base of marmorino (2 layers a fresco), to give a certain depth, overlay with several layers of polished stucco regularly veined with a mix of pigments and lime apply with a feather. 

Tools and materials:
-Trapézoidal trowel: its corners are round and the side sharpened it help to don't let any tool trace
-A feather, not to soft if possible
-Marmorino light grey
-Polished stucco white (natural color)
-Mars black pigments with lime's water
-Bee and carnauba wax
-Cotton rug



So let's go, we first have apply an acrylic primer with silicate to let the lime "breath" and give a good grip.
The first layer of marmorino is applied without attention on a thickness about 1mm, the marmorino is tinted a light grey ith a bit of pigment black mars.

Let's wait the first layer of lime to be "amoureuse" (that mean in love in french) i repeat for beginners that means the lime is still fresh but don't stick anymore to fingers. Then apply the second layers with more care. The black stain that you can see are spot of pigments badly diluted but in that case we don't really care, it will even give some more hue to the faux marble.

Of course wait the second layer to be "amoureuse", then polish the marmorino with the trowel, it will the be smooth. The marmorino is ready to receive a first layer of white polished stucco (it's the same composition as marmorino but the marble dust is thinner).

After one or two coats of polished stucco we can draw the first veining of our marble with black mars pigment diluted in lime's water with aid of a feather. After this wait the pigments to dry a bit, polished it, it will tone down a bit the colour and blurred a bit the veining.

The veining's draw must be irregular with a major vein, it must cross irregularly not like a road, it must be some split. When you draw withe feather you must continu the vein as there isn't anymore pigment on the feather; try to draw with a shacking hand in twisting sometimes the feather to thicken the vein. When you have polish the veining apply a layer of polished stucco. 
Repeat this operation a few times, rework a bit your original veining if you want give it some depth, add also some draw. Each Layers and veinig will add depth to your marble.

So lets continu like that, don't forget to polish the pigments to fix it in the lime, and to polish the stucco strongly when each layer are dry enough, it will smooth it and strengthen the color and the hue. When you polish it wait that it doesn't let any trace on the trowel, if some bubble appear let it dry it's the water that come out, don't insist on it you will tear it off, in a few minutes it will be alright.

After having it well polished, let the lime carbonate for the best 3 weeks otherwise 1 week and wax eat with bee wax and carnauba wax with a cotton rug.

I hope you've like it, of course there are plenty of different marble and you will see some very talented people reproducing marble with veins, stone inclusions, a lot of different hue, but i think it's pretty difficult to made it on a big surface and keep a consistency and to be honest you need to have a very good knowledge of marble that i haven't yet.

But sometimes this little tips could make a pretty wall or give a new style to an old furniture or match things with your fireplace... Anyway i think it's always a great feeling to be able to copy a bit the beauty of nature. 


Tell me if you like it, or if you have any suggestion to improve it. That was a first try and i'm pretty happy with it, but i keep in mind that the Carrara's marble is probably one of the easiest to copy. As you can see i've try a grey one it's looking great in reality but not really like marble, but in that case, only solution, try again!!

Et voilà!!!

To complete my article on casein paint here is a presentation on Milk paint.
To clarify the differences: it exists 3 big types of paints made from milk products or derivated: 

-Milk paint
-Casein and Borax
-Quark and oil glaze


They are hard-wearing, inexpensive, easy to make paints that provide a perfect base for pigments. By mixing milk protein or casein with an alkali, a strong binder is produced that adheres itself and pigments to the surface it is painted on. Milk paints are an important addition to any nontoxic, VOC free household for walls, woodwork and more. They produce a flat, matte finish. Like lime coatings their look can be further enhanced by topcoats such as oil or wax. Versatile in effects, milk paint is also used widely in faux finishing techniques such as washes, sponging, ragging, etc. and is highly favored for artist and craft work. 
A big part of my informations are coming from a very nice American website: earthpigments.com

Ingredients:
- 5L of fat free fresh milk
- 250mL of white vinegar
- 120gr of Aerial Lime 
- 200gr of earth pigments
= 1.8L of paint covering around 9sqm



For this recipe we are using fresh milk that will be turned to curds with the addition of vinegar (or lemon juice). By curdling to create Quark, the milk protein is concentrated within the curds making a stronger paint. In addition it will not be prone to mold as milk paints created from fresh milk can be. 

Allow the milk to stand and warm to room temperature, (in any case the milk should not be allowed to warm higher than 115 degrees to protect the integrity of the casein). With the milk in a large container, stir in two cups of white vinegar. Curdling will begin immediately. Allow the mixture to sit in a warm place overnight or up to two days. Do not stir again after you have incorporated the vinegar. It is important that the quark not be disturbed so that the curds can form together. You will notice that the milk solids separate from the liquid, creating solid curds and liquid whey.

Assemble all your ingredients when ready to paint, as milk paint should be used when fresh for best results. Place your Ocher or pigment powder in a container and mix with an equal amount of water to soak. Work the pigment into a homogenous paste where all the particles have been wetted.

Place your lime in a plastic or glass (not metal) container large enough to hold two to three cups. Be careful not to inhale dust or allow dust to get on hands or in eyes. SLOWLY pour 1½ cups of water into the lime and stir into a creamy paste making sure all the lime has been wetted.

With all the ingredients prepared, have your paint bucket ready. Line the colander completely with cheesecloth. Place the colander in a sink and pour the curds and whey into it to drain the whey off. You now have small, easy to dissolve quark. Rinse the quark with cool water to remove any residual whey and neutralize the vinegar. Allow it to drain, but keep the curds dripping rather than becoming too dry. This moisture will aid in their dissolving with the addition of the lime paste.

Gather the corners of the cheesecloth and transfer the quark to your paint bucket. Make sure the curds are small and break down any that are larger pieces. Add the lime/water paste to the curds and stir well. You will immediately notice the curds turning from a lumpy mixture into a creamy paint. If some curds do not dissolve readily, the mixture can sit for 15 to 30 minutes to help break them down. Your milk paint is now ready for the addition of your slaked pigment. Stir this into the creamy quark and lime base. You may or may not need to add additional water. All ingredients should coalesce, and the consistency should be that of light cream. Be cautious of adding too much water. Strain your completed paint through more cheesecloth or a nylon stocking. Some undissolved quark may remain. Stir your paint thoroughly and often during application. Extra paint can be stored up to several days in the refrigerator, however it will begin to separate so try to use it fresh.

The first coat of milk paint will appear thin. If your base is too absorbent, the first coat can be diluted 20 to 50% with water as a priming coat. 

This recipe is partially inspired of a Swedish recipe from XVIIth century and which still used there to protect the wooden buildings.
It's a hundred percent natural, very resistant and don't need any care. It protects very well outdoor walls in particular different types of wood, because ocher is the most opaque pigment against UV rays. 

-You'll need 260gr of wheat floor type55 or rye floor
-Mix it with 20cl of water to get a paste. Add 3L of hot water
-Mix it, let cook slowly for 15minutes
-Pour 1Kg of ocher and 100gr of ferrous sulfate. Heat slowly and  stir it for 15minutes
-Then pour 40cl of linseed oil and 4cl of ecological liquid soap.
-Stir for 15minutes
-Here it is you have around 5Kg of paint covering about 16 sqm. 


NB: If you have a tips to buy some australian ocher!
 Because i still find a bit stupid to use european pigments when i see how much Australian earth is reach in it.

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The casein paint is unexpensive, easy to prepare, stabile in the time and without any toxics. It must be stabilise with an alkaline product, aerial lime or borax. The lime and the bore give anti bacterial proprieties. The chalk play the role of darkner.

White and matt, casein paint is colored with natural pigments, ocher and coloured earth. Deserted by the professionals who were considering it a bit coarse, it come back with the passion of ancient's paint, like clay paint and glue paint. With it matt finish and a little grain, than can show through the brushwork allow a lot of matter 's effects. It suits to bedrooms, lartge rooms -in reason of it's low price- and for ceilings.

It's a permeable and non washable, very stabile with a good covering power. Be aware that, it becomes opaque only after drying. Make colours samples before starting.

Base 
     Casein paint fits to mineral base (rendering, masonry, concrete), painting wall paper, plaster, plaster sheet and old paint none gloss. The base must be dry, undust et degrease. Don't use in wet place.On gloss paint, sand or use an ecological primer. Treat thevery absorbant render with an impregnation primer. Seal the crack with a filler.



Casein and borax (or lime)
     It's not always to find tha tkind of material in Australia but i'll try to compile some adresses next.The quantities are for around 10l of paint covering between 80 sqm and 100 sqm.-In a little bucket or a pot pour 2L of water; mix with a whisk300g of casein-Add 80g of borax powder in strongly mixing. The blend will thickened and become translucent, let it lay down for 2 hours.-In the meantime poor 2.5L of water in abig bucket with 6kg of chalk powder, mix with a mixer, the blend will be very thick.-After 2 hours poor the little bucket in the big one and mix. Add the pigments previously wet and mix. For stronger colour decrease the quantity of chalk. Let lay down for half an hour. -Apply 1 or 2 layers with a spalter or a roller.

Variants
     Casein is lightly acid it become hard and sticky in addition to an alkalin product: It can be borax but also Aerial Lime or ammonia in th e same proportions.
You can also replace casein by "fromage blanc" 0% fat (5kg for 10L), for an even cheaper paint, But you'll have to add a few drops of essential oil of clove or mint to avoid moisture. The finish in that case is a little bit more coarse. So try it before and you'll know if you like it, int he case where you can find casein.