Technique

Preparing boards for icon painting

The boards are manufactured according to traditional technologies, preferably out of linden or cypress. Depending on the size of the board the oak braces are inserted to the back. This prevents the board from warping.

The board is saturated with warm rabbit skin glue and is covered with linen cloth.

When the linen is dry, layers of gesso are applied to the board surface.

Finally, the surface is smoothed out by sandpapering: starting with the rough sandpaper grade 100-400, and finishing with the fine one grade 1500, if necessary.

A drawing, and then painting is made on paper first.

The drawing is transferred onto the board, refined and engraved. This is followed by gilding and then painting, layer by layer.

After the paint is dry (in 3 to 7 days), the icon is varnished with linseed oil that serves as a protective layer.

You can see our icon gallery here: Gallery