Ilia,...great advice! Thanks. Especially about mixing the verdoccio dry, which I'll try with the colors I have . Don't have raw umber, just raw sienna and burnt umber. I made new test tiles with more sand mix, maybe too much sand this time, as things dried very fast. I also tried floating on one test and troweling on another. The floated test came out too sandy, the sand comes off on my finger, though the rougher look is nice. Had trouble with making white work. I used blance fixe, which I understood to be "fresco white", a finely mixed lime, is that true? Anyway, it did not adhere, by itself or when mixed with other colors. Had some success with these colors: bohemian green earth ( an ugly color ), french ochre, caput mortum, and cobalt blue medium. But other colors like: cad yellow light, manganese brown, cobalt green did not take at all. If I could get a few warm colors , a few cool colors, and a good dark to work, and also be able to use white with them, I believe I could make some kind of a painting out it. I would like to try another painting soon. The 'truefresco.org' site is really good, I'll go there often. Your workshop would be by far the best thing, I know that. Maybe someday.