Icon Progress

So, here are some progress shots of the icon I'm painting in my Contemporary Icon class I'm taking this semester. Sadly there is only one class left and I've only begun - I still have to gild and paint the piece. I missed class last week due to a family death and so I missed some crucial work time - I hope to gild the piece this wednesday and gather all the materials I need so I can spend the next few weeks before my review board painting it. The painting shouldn't take too long, as long as I can figure it out without the impeccable guidance of Bob Baart. Not too much detail about the imagery here, more just about the process.

MDF board coated with gesso made in the class. All grounds are made from scratch, except for the bole.

the fresh icon, after 7 coats of gesso but before 5+ hours of sanding

after 5+ hours of sanding, holes drilled, image xerox transferred and gesso relief painted

testing out imagery for the side panels

because so much of the icon is going to be gilded, i had to incise my drawing so
i'd be able to see it while i'm painting - traditional technique

this is a closeup of the gesso relief - these are the spots where
the gold will be burnished (shiny)

the bole (red clay base) that is painted over the ground wherever
gold leaf will be applied. traditional water gilding technique - my
teacher suggests applying 5 or so coats, to enhance the gold's finish.
when you burnish applied gold leaf, you're really burnishing the red clay
below the leaf - that's what shines, and it shows through the incredibly thin leaf.

one coat of bole ontop of gesso relief - you can see the incising

one coat of bole (on top of the bunnies I decided to use)

full view of 1 coat of bole

awesome side view

4 coats of bole

full look at 4 coats of bole - i wish i had realized how much i would have to
gild before i spent so much time preparing and sanding my surface. oh well, next time.

Aviary

So, hey, I'm back.

I showed some pictures of the start of this book a while back - and here's the finished project. It turned out alright, it's not aligned properly because I was sort of imprecise when I made it, but that's alright because it looks good when you hold it in your hands.

the first part of the book - photocopies of birds of prey from a guidebook.
i traced these birds and that's what the pages of this book are.

a progress shot - getting ready to adhere the transparency to the frame

after gluing it all together, including the tab for binding

I've never bound something using screw posts, even though I've wanted to forever - and I like it. Looks great, I love the use value even though it doesn't apply to this book, and it's pretty easy to do (although sewing is probably less effort). The cover went through a few stages, and unfortunately the photos I have of the cover aren't so great - but that one will do. I like how I left the cover - initially it had been just flat with AVIARY in gold in the center, but it was boring and I sort of messed it up. So, I made it a happy accident and I like the dimension the layers give the cover. There's tracing paper in between all of the pages, to help separate the clear pages. The pages are sort of meant to be looked at both alone and when held with the pages before/after them. Great shadows, too!