“Wild Tales” is a workshop dedicated to exploring nature through mark-making, color, and words. Starting from the observation of botanical elements, participants will create a leporello—a folding book that gives shape to both images and stories.
Throughout the workshop, participants will experiment with acrylic painting, which allows for working with bold shapes and strong contrasts, creating a dynamic dialogue between material and color. They will then explore gouache—a matte and velvety painting technique—used to build delicate layers. This will be combined with the masking technique, which involves preserving areas of the paper before painting so that they remain free of pigment and retain the original color of the paper. This process can be repeated multiple times, even by masking areas that have already been painted, in order to create overlays and positive/negative effects.
To achieve this, masking fluid is used—a product that creates a waterproof barrier against paint, which can be removed after painting to reveal the layers underneath.
The workshop is also an opportunity to engage with storytelling: each participant will work on stories, impressions, or narratives interwoven with the world of plants.
Illustration by Elisa Talentino, “Valle Grana – GAL Tradizione Terre Occitane”.
The illustration depicts the “Sarvanot” (the little wild one), mythological figures from the Piedmont valleys.