Pictorial icons. Collection "Venets"

Let's pay attention to the large selection of church and family icons created by Siberian icon-painters in a technique that's called "Friezes painting". "Friezes painting" is a combination of styles combining Old Russian and West European art (this direction was pollowed in the second part of 17 century). It is a combination of two art-techniques: tempera and oil.

The first stage is the preparation of a board from cedar, which is seasoned for 5-6 years. When masters make wedges and thorns they use strong blocks of wood: ash, oak, beech.

Preparation to the board includes a paste over with materials for durability, putting levkas on the basis of a yolk of egg with next puttying.

Next stage is the painting of the icons. Artists use cedar and blench, linseed oil, oil paint, egg tempera, cedar, silver fir varnish and soft turpentine. Paints of different types are put in layers, each coat is dried. During painting of the images artists are using brushes made from squirrel and Siberian weasel. Brush has sharp tip on one edge. We offer setting, unsetting and under setting icons.

Settings are made by technique, which calls "Galvan plastics" with next silvering or gilding. In under setting icons artists paint carefully only those parts of pictures, which are not closed by settings. Usually they are images, hands and bare foots. Artists keep to canons and also paint contour of images of Saints. They paint by oil only first layer on surface of levkas, then put background and clothes by local colors. Artists paint only surface of the heads, images, and hands, foots which visible in openings of the settings.

Last stage in icon's creation is assembling. When artist assembles the icon, he keeps to canons and uses only copper, brass and silver nails. Icon-cases are made from Siberian cedar.

Icons

    Icons "Venets" TM