Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Want to learn to paint with egg tempera?



Go to Prosopon School website and click on "The Icon, release of DVD on practice and theory, 2009" to find more information about this DVD and watch clips (which are very good).

I bought this DVD recently, anxiously awaited its arrival, and with great anticipation and excitement watched all four hours of it. It cost $98 but worth every penny! The artist, Vladislav Andrejev, is a master painter and it was a joy to watch him work. I learned several things I have already done incorrectly or would have done incorrectly if left to my own devices. It is really going to help me improve my painting. I'm sure I'll watch it many times, reviewing each section before I start that step. If you are a rank beginner, there are a few things that are not explained enough, such as making bole and shell gold paint. I highly recommend taking a workshop to run through everything at least once. Luckily I already know how to make shell gold paint. The use of wax paper as an aid in handling loose gold leaf was a revelation and makes using it a snap. No expensive gilder's tips, pads or knives necessary; just cheap scissors and wax paper from your kitchen, plus a dedicated gold brush (doesn't have to be an expensive one) and a plastic container for the gold scraps to use for making shell gold paint later.

BTW, I am still working on an embroidery project but don't want to post pictures until it is further along. I also ran out of yellow thread and had to order more. That is taking up the precious little free time I have what with this being spring (gardening season) and working more hours at work and finishing woodshop class for the semester. Too many irons in the fire!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good contents. MANY thanks. I read an informative article about woman in the middle ages at The Woman in The Feudal Age

Scott Songfeather said...

Hi! By happy coincidence, I have just applied my first coat of gesso using V. Andrejev's gesso recipe to 2 13x21 inch birchply panels and was cruising the net as they dry when I found your blog.

I, too, bought a copy of V. Andrejev's "The Icon" DVD, and also beleive it well worth every penny.

Over a week, I took detailed notes from the 2 dvd set, quite verbatim, and have them available free in the form of an rtf. file for anyone who would like them for non-commercial purposes. Email me at SongfeatherScott@yahoo.com and put something like "Icon Notes" in the subject line and I'll gladly send you the file.

I had one or two questions about colors-names which weren't clearly indicated in English in the DVD's narrative, and emailed Dmitri Andrejev regarding them. He answered my questions graciously and fully :-)