Traditional Methods and Materials, Gilding and Gesso Panels
This course introduces students to the techniques of some of the master painters from the 14th through 17th centuries. From grinding and preparing pigments to the formulation of a range of traditional recipes central to egg tempera and oil painting, the tutor demonstrates how essential this careful preparation was to all the great masters. The technique of preparing a gesso panel is also taught and students are able to prepare their own panels. Gilding techniques are demonstrated and applied. Students are guided in techniques used to apply gold to paper, velum, glass, wood, stone and gesso. Mordants are discussed and techniques for handling the gold leaf are practiced. By the end of the course students are normally quite confident in the use of loose leaf gold. The purpose of these classes is to give students a thorough grounding in traditional techniques, the principles underlying them, and some of the alchemical symbolism involved in the preparations.
