Fresco

Just recently, I have "discovered" the existence of fresco painting. It's as if this whole time my subconscious has been repeating to me "There's four types of paint mediums: watercolor, oil, and acrylics, and that tempura stuff. There are no other paint mediums." So it's literally mind blowing to suddenly find out there are other paint mediums. Fresco painting, in  a nutshell, is painting on wet plaster. When the plaster drys, a chemical reaction takes place such as with pottery in the kiln, causing the color pigments to become richer and brighter. It's a really ancient technique, found in artwork all over the world. In Europe, it was a predominant paint medium for much of the middle ages (it and tempura) , though it was largely usurped by oil paints. This particular fresco painting is Indian in origin, and I can really appreciate it artistically -- from the sharp, accurate shapes, big bold colors to the meticulous detail. Added to this sense of appreciation is the rapid drying nature of fresco, meaning the artist has to be highly skilled in order to achieve such accuracy, complex coloring and detail.