Describing Media And Processes History Of Gilding:

DESCRIBING MEDIA AND PROCESSES History of Gilding: The art of gilding has been around for many centuries, even dating back to the Egyptian times. However, gold foil existed before then but it was the Egyptians that revolutionised the whole process. The Egyptians constructed a process which allowed them to cleverly disguise an object of inferior material with a surface of smooth gold. By this technique, the object looked as if it was made entirely out of gold. This was where the art of gilding was created. Gilding has since been used on artworks of many famous artists, creating an illuminated effect, especially in Byzantine art where many artworks were religious, thus creating a ‘heavenly glow’ making the artwork much more fitting for its narrative purpose. Romans have also used gilding to decorate temples and structures of significance and since that period, gilding has developed into a versatile technique, used in many areas of art.

The Process of Gilding: Gilding takes a long time, however with perseverance, the ending result can look amazing. The process can also be quite tiresome with many steps that need to be conducted with care. Gilding is best suited for use on rigid or solid surfaces, such as wood or stone. This is so that the gesso (see glossary) can be applied and levelled smoothly.

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Using your chosen surface, wood for example, coat it with a thin layer of animal skin glue. This is to prepare the wood for the layering of linen and gesso. The gesso that is prepared earlier is not applied directly to the surface but on a sheet of linen that has been saturated with animal glue. The layer of linen is spread onto the wood and smoothed into place, making sure there are no air bubbles. Once the surface has hardened, gesso is gradually applied, building up to 6-8 coats in a day. The amount of gesso must be monitored as too much gesso will result in cracking over a period of time. Once that is done, charcoal is lightly dusted onto the surface. With that a steel scraper is used to level or sand the gesso to make it smooth. This will eliminate all brush strokes and drip marks, allowing paint or gold leaves to be applied easily. The surface will now be ready for the preliminary drawings. The drawings can be done with charcoal, which can be easily erased with a feather if necessary. The drawing is then traced with a needle to incise the outlines of the drawing. The negative space of the drawing is then painted with a reddish backing colour. This can also be known as ‘bole’, which is a mixture of clay and glue. Without this backing colour the gold leaf, that will soon be applied, will appear to have a green or cold undertone to it. The reddish backing will accentuate the gold leaf’s warm undertones. The gold leaf is prepared and cut into small pieces and the area where the gold leaf will be laid onto is moistened with a damp brush. The gold leaf is then dropped onto the surface with a special brush or thin piece of cardboard. The gold leaf will only stick to moistened areas, so it is best to moisten the area immediately before applying the gold leaf. Once the desired area of gold leaf has been applied leave it to dry (preferably overnight). Once dry, the gold surface is then burnished (see glossary) with a burnisher or a smooth stone. This is done with moderate pressure and once done, the whole area where the gold leaf is, should be super shiny!

There are many types of gilding that can be done, including oil gilding. However this method here is for Water Gilding.

History of Tempera Painting: Tempera, which is a mixture of egg yolk and finely grained pigment, was the primary media used in Byzantine art by artists such as Duccio and Martini. Tempera and gilding were often used together to create illuminating artworks for narrative purposes. However, towards later years, reaching the middle of the renaissance period, the use of tempera slowly waned due to the perfected procedure of oil painting. Artists then began to use oil painting and the use of tempera gradually diminished. However in the late 20th century, American artists such as Andrew Wyeth embraced the technique and allowed tempera to revive again.

The Process of Tempera: 1.

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Because of tempera’s fast drying property, the best surface for it to be used on is a surface that is rigid and absorbent. Wood panels which have been applied with layers of gesso, was traditionally used when painting with tempera. The process for preparing this surface is the same as the process previously mentioned. Please refer to steps 1 – 5 in the method of gilding. It is also best to start with smaller panels as large areas are difficult to cover with tempera as tempera requires detail, small brush strokes and is hard to blend with. Preparing a panel for tempera painting is extremely similar to what you would do to prepare for gilding. It is the same process (i.e. applying glue to wood, applying layers of gesso, then sanding it down) but on a smaller scale. i. TIP: It’s a good idea to plan out what you will be drawing as once something is sketched into the panel, altering the drawing will be difficult. Charcoal can be used for preliminary drawings and can be erased with a feather when used lightly.

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To make tempera, one must have suitable pigments (depending on what you feel would be appropriate for you artwork) and the egg yolk. The egg yolk is the binder in this process. The binder only requires the use of the egg yolk, therefore we must separate the yolk from the white in order to create paint. To start, crack and egg open carefully and drain off as much of the egg white as possible. This can be done by passing the egg back and forth between the egg shells. Once this is done, the egg yolk can be dried by placing it in your hand, and transferring it from palm to palm, while drying your hand after each transfer. Once the yolk feels relatively dry, gently hold the yolk at the top of a container and pierce it so that the yolk can drain into the container. Water is then added to the egg yolk to make it thinner (half-yolk, half-water.) The binder is ready and pigment can now be mixed with it. i. PIGMENT: Pigments in powdered form can be purchased from art supply stores. In olden days, pigments were derived from natural resources, lapis lazuli stone for example, however nowadays, pigments are manufactured artificially in order to create new hues and replace old, toxic natural pigments. Tempera tends to dry very quickly so it is best to mix small amounts of paint rather than mix large amounts to avoid the paint drying on your palette. Using a small spatula or spoon, measure out a small amount of pigment and place it on your palette. With a watercolour brush, gather about the same amount of yolk as the pigment and drop it onto your palette. Mix together the two

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substances to create a paste, making sure that it is smooth i.e. no bumps. i. NOTE: Some pigments will require further mixing because of the graininess. Water is then added to the paint to create transparency. Tempera is a technique built with layers, meaning each new layer of paint builds on the previous. This is also so that each preceding layer dries before it can disrupt the colour or effect of the new layer being applied. Depending on your personal preference, add as much water as you like to the tempera mix till it reaches the desired transparency The paint is now ready to use. When painting with tempera, small rounded brushes are used and generally, the painter will begin in the background and successively work towards the foreground to generate a smooth texture. The tempera is applied in thin layers which are then built upon by successive layers allowing the desired colour to be created. This is done because tempera cannot be blended once applied. i. NOTE: For a smooth texture, it is important to wipe off any excess paint on the paintbrush before you use the paint on the surface. This is to ensure that there won’t be any dried clumps of paint on the underlying layer. Once the base colour is applied, more layers are put on to build up the colour. The successive layer is then applied in one direction but at an angle to the previous layer to create depth in the painting (also known as Cross-Hatching.) A varnish is sometimes applied to the finished painting, to prevent damage and also to intensify the colour by taking away the “pastel” appearance tempera sometimes gives.

History of Fresco Painting: Fresco painting has no doubt been around for many years, even dating back to 30,000 years ago, where fresco-type paintings were seen on limestone cave walls. The technique of Fresco painting soon evolved and by 1500 BC, the process developed to painting on wet plaster allowing the location and use of fresco to be more adaptable. The earliest frescoes of this type were found on the island of Crete in Greece. Frescoes, with decorative and narrative purposes, were generally quite large and used in tombs and chapels depicting stories for society or religion. Giotto was amongst the famous Italian artist who used fresco to tell stories of religion and spirituality.

Process of Fresco: PLASTERING: 1. Fresco unlike most painting medium, requires swift movement and fast brushstrokes because once the wet lime wall plaster dries, alteration of the drawing is very difficult. Experimentation is also very hard when painting a fresco therefore it is essential to have a clear design of what is going to be created. The hardest part of painting a fresco is believed to be plastering, which should be thoroughly researched if someone wanted to become a fresco artist. 2. There are four main coats of plaster that has to go onto the wall. Each coat has different requirements however generally speaking combining sand, lime-putty, and mesh will create the plaster. The sand must be dry or the water in the sand will prohibit the lime from carbonizing. This would also stop the lime from sticking to the walls and the grains of sand. The lime being used should also be dry. 3. The wall on which the plaster will be applied onto however, must be wet in order to prevent the wall from absorbing the plaster coat. It is recommended to soak the wall from one day to a week. 4. The first three coats of plaster are laid onto the wall while the fourth and final layer, the intonaco, is gradually layered on as the work progresses.

PAINTING: 1. The preliminary drawings are drawn onto tracing paper which is later transferred onto the plaster. This is also known as a fresco cartoon. The outlines of the figures/subjects are incised by creating perforations. 2. The cartoon is transferred onto the plaster wall through pouncing. Sometimes a helper holds the cartoon while someone does the transferring of the cartoon. 3. The paint used simply consists of ground pigments and water. Once the paint has been created it is recommended to refresh your memory by re-examining the cartoon. Once the plaster dries it is difficult to repair the painting thus, fresco artists must work quickly in order to achieve the desired effect. The plaster begins to dry at the joints first so the edges must be painted first. 4. Plaster is not as easy to use as paper, so there are different stages to painting a fresco depending on the wetness of the plaster. The first stage will last approximately 6 – 8 hours which will allow time for the colour areas to be put on using a semi-dry brush. This is when verdaccio (mixture of the lime and pigment) is used, however it is not as commonly used now as it was when the great Italian painters were alive. This is because verdaccio requires great physical strength to apply. 5. Drawing is now able to be conducted with a small, coarse, dry brush. 6. Once that is done the second stage begins. This is when clear coats of colour are applied allowing the colour areas to build. This can take several hours, where layers upon layers are painted onto the plaster. 7. Towards evening, the plaster enters the third stage where it will begin to soak up the paint being applied. The paint is applied thinly with small brushes allowing the plaster to give a smooth marble like surface. This is when most of the detail would be applied to the painting. 8. After an hour or so after the third stage, the plaster enters the fourth stage where it becomes more accepting towards the paint. Artists would seize this moment and use this time to finalize the solidity of the brushwork. 9. Once the plaster starts to “reject” the paint, it is time to stop painting. The paint will no longer penetrate the surface of the plaster. The final act of the day is to mark off tomorrow’s section. Each day this process is repeated until the work is finally completed.