detail, fresco secco mural panel in progress
Mural artists in Kerala, south India, have painted this way for centuries. I learned from one painter there some years ago, and I have recently started to use those techniques again.
Red: iron oxide
Ochre: iron oxide
Black: soot
Blue-green: iron oxide– just a placeholder for fresh indigo (I’m working on it!)
White: calcium carbonate ground, prepared in many, many thin washes