Frescoes are wall paintings on wet plaster with water-based paints. This technique has been known since ancient times. Most of the ancient monuments of monumental painting were made using it. Today, the fresco technique has undergone significant changes. If you wish, you can purchase a finished image on canvas, non-woven, self-adhesive, etc. Making this spectacular decor yourself, in principle, is not difficult.
Frescoes in the interior
The technique of real fresco is complex. The fact is that the image must be applied to the wall as quickly as possible, without waiting for the plaster to dry. Therefore, in modern interiors, a real fresco is practically not used. The release of such images in our time is put on stream. At the same time, a variety of materials can be used as the basis for the drawing.
Varieties: on non-woven fabric
Different manufacturers make frescoes on non-woven fabric in different ways. Paint, for example, can be applied in several stages. Or the image is simply printed on the printer. The finished drawing is covered on top with a special tool that allows you to create cracks on the surface. As a result, the image looks like"ancient". Non-woven frescoes are a decorative item that can decorate a room for absolutely any purpose. You can use these decorations both in the living room and in the bedroom or kitchen. A fresco of this type is attached to ordinary glue designed for non-woven wallpaper.
Canvas
Frescoes on canvas are made only in Spain and Italy using a rather complicated technology and are quite expensive. The image is preliminarily applied to the plaster base. It is then aged and then reprinted onto a natural cotton canvas. A fresco is glued to the walls with glue for heavy wallpaper. These images can vary in size. A slight difficulty lies in the fact that before gluing, you have to cut off the excess canvas along the edges. Modern frescoes of this variety have another small drawback - they cannot be washed and must be covered with wax.
Pattern on plaster
The image, made on plaster, most accurately imitates an old fresco. Due to the rather significant thickness of the material, the texture of the pattern is very well transmitted. In this case, a special flexible plaster reinforced with mesh is used as the basis for the fresco. Such a pattern is attached to the wall with mounting glue. After that, the space around the fresco is additionally decorated with plaster. As a result, the image looks painted directly on the wall. Such frescoes are a decor that is perfect not only for decoratinginterior, but also to decorate the facades of buildings. If desired, the image on the plaster can be used even in the bathroom, since it is not afraid of moisture.
Fresco with self-adhesive backing
The main advantage of such a fresco is the ease of installation. The image is made with a special paste on a very durable non-woven base. All you need to do is remove the protective film, attach the canvas to the wall and gently smooth it out. If desired, a similar decor can be used on the ceiling. The disadvantage of this type of fresco is that, due to its insignificant thickness, it imitates an old work, it is not very realistic. Some apartment owners refuse such decor because it somewhat resembles ordinary textured wallpaper.
Rigid-based picture
The image in this case is applied to a special - hard and at the same time light - base. The edges of the latter are chipped to make the fresco as similar to the old one as possible. The image can be mounted on the wall with mounting glue or simply hung like a regular picture. Such frescoes are an ornament that cannot be too large (maximum 3x1.4 m).
What to choose?
Most often, when choosing a type of fresco, apartment owners are guided by the degree of realism of the image made "antique", as well as its cost. The cheapest option is a fresco on plaster. Since this decor is very spectacular, it is used in interiors quite often. A fresco on a non-woven base is somewhat more expensive. However, sticking the image to the wall in this case will be much easier. The most expensive option is canvas. In principle, any frescoes can become a real decoration of the interior (the photos on the page clearly demonstrate this). Therefore, the choice depends primarily on the personal preferences of the owners of the apartment.
How to make your own fresco
Even the cheapest images made on plaster are quite expensive (6,000 rubles per 1 m22 for 2014). However, those who do not have enough funds for such decor should not despair. An excellent way out can be a homemade fresco. It is not so difficult to do it with your own hands. What is the procedure for making such a decor? In fact, there are quite a few technologies for creating an “old” fresco. The easiest way is to purchase special thin napkins with ready-made images applied to them. In addition to them, you will need to buy acrylic paints and PVA glue.
Previously, the place where the fresco will be located later is limited to adhesive tape. Next, the wall is painted with acrylic paint. Its tone should be in harmony with the color of the napkin itself. This paint dries very quickly - 10-15 minutes. The pattern from the napkin is not cut out, but pulled out in such a way that the edges are uneven. This will make the fresco as realistic as possible. Then, two protective layers are removed from the back of the picture, applied to the wall and smeared with glue right on top. PVA will impregnate thin material, and the image will be firmly fixed on the surface.
At the next stage, the texture is given to the drawing. For this, putty is used. It is applied to the wall around the image using a regular sponge. After the putty dries (about an hour), two layers of acrylic paint are applied to the wall surface, also around the pattern - darker and lighter. In principle, the fresco is ready. However, if desired, it can also be "aged". To do this, the wall - before the paint dries - is passed with the same sponge, but with the reverse, hard side. It is necessary to process the surface until the plaster begins to appear on it in places.
A fresco made by hand can become a real highlight of any interior. For those who do not want to waste time making such decor on their own, all that remains is to simply purchase it in the store.
