|
|
St. Georgious , size
90× 115 in the church of St.
John in kaittina |
|
First,
we choose the wood
designated for drawing the icons there are
many kinds of wood .
We burnish the wood ( with
sandpapers or rubbing ) till it become very
smooth , then we wrap in a cotton or flax
piece of cloth and glued by the (Red Glue )
,which is extracted from the bones of the
rabbits , and after the cloth is dried , we
cut the extras and then we paint it with a
foundation material for several times ( the
foundation material consists of the paste
and the red glue ) .
|
Then ,and after the
foundation material is completely dry , we
burnish it by means of the smooth sandpaper
, then the wood becomes ready for placing
the plan , which is considered the base of
the icon and one of the most important
factors of success .
After finishing the plan , we paint the ground of
the icon , i.e. the space behind the saint's picture
, with blue or ochre colors , or prepare it for
gilding , as follows :
We
paint the ground of the icon with (Camalica) 6 to 7
times
till isolating the surface which is to be gild and
become smooth , and in order to glue the gold sheets
, we use a special kind of glue called (Mixion) ,
which is made in France .
When
the suitable required time is over , we begin
placing the gold sheets.
There is another way for gilding the icons , which
depends on using the water and alcohol instead of
the (Mixion) for gluing the gold sheets , then we
polish the gold with a special tool made of Ivory ,
and that is what we call (Steelvoto) .
The
same phases of wood foundation are to be performed
,but here we need to apply the foundation material
for about 30 times more than the first way and much
more attention in order to make the surface smoother
, also we need to paint the surface with a material
called (Amboly) , which is a material to be mixed
with albumen , and used to create a soft layer and
thus it becomes a part of the surface when we start
burnishing and polishing the gold
leaf by the
special .
Very
few of Iconographers use this technique because it
requires a great deal of experience , besides ,
there are other hard techniques for achieving a
successful result .
We are
specialized in this technique and the gold we use is
usually German or Russian
|
/22/
or /24/ carat and is distinguished for
its thickness.
After gilding , comes the painting
process , and here we use natural colors
extracted from the earth and mixed with
egg yolk .
We never use acrylic or any other
chemical materials , as it oxidizes and
changes by time .
Our way of work is the same for wooden
icons and wall portraits .
It is performed with the same drawing
techniques and phases
. |
 |
Pictures
about the phases of technique of Portable Icon
