Fresco Project

Since I posted about Michelangelo and frescoes, I’ve noticed a lot of people have come in search of a fresco project. I did not originally post one because frescoes are complicated and involve toxic materials. When you mix plaster it gets hot and gives off fumes and this would not be a fun project or a very safe one.

That being said, I remember a project I did when I was in elementary school that was a modified fresco project, using plaster of Paris. If you are really interested in creating your own fresco, try this.

Supplies Needed:

Plaster of Paris
Watercolor Paints
Paintbrush
Clay (recipe below)
Thin cardboard (cereal boxes)

Purchase some plaster of Paris and mix according to the instructions on the package. You’ll want to let it set for a few minutes before pouring it into a mold. I recommend making a mold out of clay and thin cardboard.

Follow the directions for clay:

Supplies Needed:

2 Cups Flour
1 Cup Salt
1 Cup Water
1 1/2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Slowly stir in the water and the oil until there are no more lumps. The mixture should be smooth. That’s all there is to it; you have homemade clay.

Mold the clay into a thin, smooth sheet (about half an inch thick). Cut some strips of thin cardboard (try using a cereal box) and stick them into the clay to create a wall. You can make your fresco any shape by just arranging the cardboard into that shape. Make sure to tape the edges where the pieces of cardboard meet. If you want your fresco to be rectangular, just cut the two large sides off the box and use the remaining pieces.

Alternatively, you could use a tupperware container as a mold but you may destroy the container and will certainly not want to keep food in it again.

Pour the plaster of Paris into the mold and let it set. Plaster of Paris will heat up as it sets but it will not be dangerous; it will only reach about 80 degrees. If you want to paint on the plaster as it dries feel free to try it but wait until it hardens a bit. If you try to paint on it while it still looks like pancake batter your paintbrush will sink in and leave blobs of paint in the plaster of Paris.

To turn your fresco into a wall hanging, cut a piece of string and bury the two ends in the plaster before it has fully set. You'll be able to hang the fresco from this string once the plaster of Paris has set.

When I did this project in art class in elementary school, the art teacher created the molds ahead of time at let them dry completely. This allowed us to draw the outline of our picture onto the dried plaster with a pencil. The project also took several hours to complete and art class was one hour at the longest. We couldn’t have finished it before the plaster of Paris dried.

Maybe you should make two molds and paint on one as it hardens and the other one after it hardens. Let me know which works best.

Want to use that clay you made earlier to make a sculpture? Click here to make your own clay sculpture.


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Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert

Though not an art-related book, Lois Ehlert’s Leaf Man does relate to the projects of the last two days, Make Your Own Leaf Pressing and What to do with All Those Pressed Leaves.

Leaf Man, the star of this picture book, is a man made out of fall leaves. Leaf Man goes on a journey, letting the wind take him where it pleases. The book’s illustrations are pictures of fall leaves arranged into shapes such as fish, and turkeys. These are the things Leaf Man sees on his journey. Do you have a leaf man living the pile of fall leaves in your yard?

This book will give you inspiration when creating your own leaf man, as I have done here:

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What to do with all those Pressed Leaves

Yesterday you made, or learned how to make, pressed leaves. So what should you do with all those pressed leaves? Here are a few ideas. If you come up with others, please tell me about them in a comment.

You could identify what kind of trees your leaves came from and create a colorful guide to fall foliage. Pick up a field guide to trees at your local library or bookstore. It's tough for me to recommend anything in particular because nature guides are usually meant for only one region of the world. A guide to Canadian trees would not be helpful in India, for instance. Look for one that helps you identify trees by their leaves. This will be best for this project and for future use since leaves are usually the easiest aspect of a tree to identify.

Next, buy a large photo album. If you buy one that has sticky pages when you peel up the protective plastic, you won’t even need glue. You can just stick a pressed leaf on each page. Write the name of each tree on a rectangle of colored construction paper and stick the corresponding name on the page with each leaf. If you want, you can even take pictures of the actual tree your leaf came from and add the picture to the page. When you’re finished, just stick the protective plastic back down.

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A very popular school project is to create a family tree. A family tree is a chart that illustrates how all your relatives are related to one another. What better material to create a family tree from than actual leaves? I would recommend writing the name of each member of your family on a rectangle of colored construction paper and placing this name plate on top of your leaf before sealing it between wax paper as you learned to do yesterday.

Once you have prepared all the leaves of your family tree, use glue or double-sided tape to attached them to a piece of posterboard. Use brown construction paper to create the branches of your tree and show who is related to whom.

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You may want to save your pressed leaves to make a holiday wreath. This is especially good for a Thanksgiving decoration but you can cut out some scary bats and ghosts and attach these as well for a Halloween door decoration.

Use a large, round bowl or plate to trace a circle onto a piece of posterboard. Trace a slightly smaller bowl or plate inside the original circle. Cut out your basic wreath shape. Use glue or double sided tape to attach your pressed leaves to the wreath shape. Hang and enjoy!

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Make Your Own Pressed Leaves

Today is Blog Action Day and thousands of bloggers will be posting articles that relate to the environment and the earth. The weather has suddenly turned cold and, for us northerners, that means the leaves are going to change and fall from the trees. That, of course, means that the fall leaves will be available for art and craft projects! So I thought this would be a good opportunity to post a leaf pressing project. By sealing fall leaves between wax paper you can keep all those natural earth colors around to enjoy and appreciate through the winter.

You'll notice that all the leaves in my pictures are yellow or still green. The yellow leaves seem to have begun to change before any other color. It's still a bit early here for this project but it shouldn't be long before all the leaves have changed.

I know this isn’t a serious post about the environment and what you can do to help, but it will allow you to take some time to appreciate the art that nature has created. Maybe the beauty of nature will inspire you to try to protect it. Plus, we can’t be serious all the time!

Supplies Needed:

Leaves in a variety of shapes and colors
Wax paper
Iron
Ironing Board
Dishtowel

Scissors

Begin by cutting two pieces of wax paper. Place one sheet on your ironing board and set the other sheet aside.

Choose a leaf to press. Put the leaf on the sheet of wax paper, making sure the leaf is as flat as possible. Lay the second sheet of wax paper on top of the leaf. Line up the edges of the two sheets of wax paper.

Cover the top with your dishtowel. Set your iron to the hottest setting and iron over the dishtowel to melt the sheets of wax paper together. Try to create a tight seal as close to the edge of the leaf as possible. My towel was too thick so I used a paper towel. This worked a lot better but there is the added risk of starting a fire.

You can then cut off the extra wax paper, leaving just your beautiful leaf. Please note that the wax paper does not melt to the leaf itself. It will only stick to itself or another sheet of wax paper. When you cut out your leaf, leave enough wax paper around the edge to maintain the seal. You’ll be able to enjoy it through the winter and all year long.

Repeat these directions with as many leaves as you’d like to preserve.

Tomorrow I’ll post some projects that will let you use your pressed leaves.

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You can create a leaf mosaic between your sheets of wax paper, too. Just arrange different colored leaves into patterns, shapes, or pictures. When you’re happy with your mosaic, lay your dishtowel over the top and iron the two sheets of wax paper together.

Try cutting the leaves into different shapes and then arranging the pieces of leaves into patterns. This will work best if you cut out the stems because the wax will create a better seal if all the pieces are the same thickness.

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If you really want to get creative, combine leaves with melted crayons to create a fall leaf sun catcher to hang in the window. Choose a beautiful fall leaf to be the centerpiece of your sun catcher. Lay the leaf in the center of a sheet of wax paper.
Use a pencil sharpener to create crayon shavings in different colors. Arrange the shavings around the leaf. It’s okay if they overlap the leaf but no light will shine through the shavings that are on top of the leaf.

Place the second sheet of wax paper over your artwork. Lay the towel on top and iron until the crayon shavings and wax paper have melted to seal your sun catcher together.

Now you can use some construction paper and glue to make a frame. Then punch a hole in the top of the sun catcher, thread some ribbon through the hole, and tie a knot.

Hang your sun catcher in the window to enjoy.

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NaNoWriMo

I have decided to participate in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). During November I will attempt to write a 50,000 word novel (about 200 pages, double spaced). This will be a great challenge but one that I believe I’m up for.

I will still post five days a week during November and I hope the articles will meet standards, but please bear with me if you notice that you are reading many entries about Vincent van Gogh. He will be a character in my novel and I have been and will continue to do a lot of research on him.

NaNoWriMo also has a Young Writer’s Program for writers 12 years or younger. You choose your own word-count goal ahead of time and you will be victorious if you reach that goal by November 30. If you need help setting a reasonable word-count goal, your parents or teachers may be able to help.

If you decide to participate in NaNoWriMo, leave me a comment and we can encourage each other along the way. At the end of posts throughout November you’ll notice a word count and, if you’re interested, you can track my progress. I would love to hear about your progress throughout November!

19 Days until NaNoWriMo!

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