Plastering Tips

Armadillo, 2013

Today I learned some plastering tips from Father Moses at St. Seraphim. One of the reasons I was getting an uneven surface was because I did not keep polishing - essentially compressing the surface every 45 minutes or so with a trowel before painting. By doing this you break up the crystallization happening on the top and allow the pigment to seep into the surface.

Even though I sometimes get a blotchy or uneven surface I like the effect. It just makes it look more like an old fresco. However, it is good to understand how to get a perfectly smooth surface when you want one.

Before plastering I got to climb up the scaffolding to the top of the dome to see how they started their Christ figure. Exciting!