Below is the conversation I was having with Ilia and wondered if spritzing the painting as I go to keep it from drying on the surface and keep it from cracking would work. However I do not live in a DRY climate like the west coast.
(sorry to be so long in setting this up admin...hope I did it correctly..but am doing a clay mural with a school plus my own work...it's piling up!!!)
artyclayforever-

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" already hydrated lime in powder form (Ca(OH)2)
>"
>I have a 5 gal bucket being delivered this week.
>...and I will report back some time. Getting to
>be a busy.

this should work for you, however be prepared for cracking, detouching, etc. until you will get the right moisture and mixture specific to your area and setup.

there is always a well tested "professional grade" fresco lime putty at:

http://truefresco.com/frescoshoppe

but before you get that try to achieve results with what you have.

ilia
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NO Ilia....it's NOT available to me, because I live in Canada. I talked to a fellow a couple of weeks ago on the phone and he said they didn't ship to Canada because of the cost of the Customs.
CRACKING eh? Damn......well I planned on following Gary's rule of thumb....of 18 quarts per 50 lb bag broken down to a couple of pounds at a time.

My only other choice is to call Gary's CHEMICAL LIME KILN people in Vancouver and see if they would put a bucket on the bus for me.

Any more good news??????
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any lime will crack if put wrongly, it is just cheaper to understand what makes it crack using inexpensive stuff. poor lime putty (made of whatever lime you can get) will give you lesser working time and lesser ways of "finessing" a fresco, but it will only make a difference after you have painted quite a few already...

ilia
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...so I try 1/4 cup variations in the water, weight the lime in a scale like I would a glaze.

If it cracks is that mostly from drying to fast. what if I spritzed it with water as I worked.....not wet....but not drying either...think it would make a difference?

I have been doing a few test pieces on plaster with acrylic colour washes....don't laugh....I thought the feel of the brush on the plaster would be about the same in a general way. ???? What do you think?