What a beautiful icon!!!

thank you very much for sharing your knowledge. God help you

Thank you

Thank you!

Благодаря много! Много полезен майсторски клас. Thanks a lot! Very useful master class.

Точнейшая копия Владимирской ПБ

Thank you very much.

Это моя любимая икона

Beautiful. Why do you use the oil? Why not just varnish from the beginning? Thank you.

@paulstetsenko5721

4 ай бұрын

You can try for yourself and see what happens. One makes a mistake like that only once.

mr. Paul Stetsenko, what do you use to varnish the gold leaf?

@paulstetsenko5721

7 жыл бұрын

Adrian, I use Minwax fast-drying clear gloss polyurethane, thinning it lightly with mineral spirits (truly, a few drops of mineral spirits to a tea spoon of polyurethane.) It does not dull the gold leaf like shellac does. However, if gold comes out too shiny (and with water gilding it is often the case), and I need to push it back somewhat, I use satin or matte, so that the gold is not screaming, "Look at me!! I am so shiny!!! I am GOLD!!!" Some people use acrylic top coat for their gilding, which is colorless; however, it is not strong and wears off fairly quickly. After all, all that kissing the icons in our churches is hard on icons... :)

@paulstetsenko5721

3 жыл бұрын

Adrian, I just found a better varnish for gold leaf than polyurethane. Just recently, I switched to lacquer, but I also dilute it with lacquer thinner, just to about water consistency. Varnishes dull gold, it's unavoidable. The most beautiful part of gold is its sheen, and when varnished, the sheen of gold is replaced with the sheen of the varnish. But at least, the intrusiveness of lacquer is minimal. I use watergilding, and those parts that are burnished can be covered with pretty much any varnish; they are not affected by it. The real trick is to varnish the matte unburnished parts.

@chrisgriffith1573

3 жыл бұрын

@@paulstetsenko5721 A mixture of stand oil and damar varnish is best on the underside, and damar varnish on top which can be easily cleaned down the road. Lacquers are good, but not as long lived and will certainly need a complete removal to renovate the surface.

who is icon painter? Just perfect

@paulstetsenko5721

3 жыл бұрын

Nanuka, you are too kind; it is far from perfect. I painted it.

после олифы лучше подольше подождать, перед лаком

@paulstetsenko5721

8 жыл бұрын

Это я у Гашева научился, «олифа в три дня.» Он отметил, что лучше класть лак на ещё слегка липкую олифу, и тогда между ними связь будет лучше. Но он клал копаловый лак, кот. у него высох за 4 часа. Я купил тот же копаловый лак (ЛеФранк), и он у меня 2 недели не высыхал. Как выяснилось, лефранковцы - в который раз! - изменили формулу лака, поменяли в нём сиккатив, и продолжают продавать как ни в чём не бывало. Ну, я-то этот способ кот. на видео сам разработал методом тыка, и Wipe-on Poly работает очень даже хорошо.

How do you protect the gold?

@paulstetsenko5721

Жыл бұрын

These days, I put a thin (really thin!) coat of lacquer. Unlike other varnishes, it only minimally dulls the gold. I tried about 15 of them, from polyurethane to shellac to acrylic... Lacquer turned out to be best so far. There is no varnish that does not dull gold. The reason for that is that the most attractive quality of gold is its sheen. When you place a protective varnish on top of gold, you replace the sheen of gold with the sheen of varnish. For the varnish not to affect the gold, it has to have the same refraction index as the air. There is no such substance. But thin coat of lacquer seems to work well. It cools gold and pushed it back a bit, but unlike other varnishes it does not turn gold leaf into yellow-green paint.

Dear Paul, thank you so much for this video. Praise God for the beautiful image of Jesus and Mary! I have watched it many times and feel more ready to try it. I am very new to this. I have a couple of questions: 1) What lacquer do you use for the gold leaf? There seems to be satin, clear, soft sheen...many options? Have you considered doing a short video on how you lacquer gold leaf? 2) Do you protect/lacquer/oil the gold leaf first or the image first? 3) I did an egg wash over the icon (54cm X 40 cm) because the blues were still dusting off. How long should you wait before applying olifa after a (very soppy!) egg wash? Before I did the egg wash the icon had dried 6 months. Thank you!

@paulstetsenko5721

Жыл бұрын

Dear Sister Marie, To protect the gold, I have two options. 1. Lacquer Varnish Gloss, somewhat diluted with Lacquer Thinner, something like 2 parts Lacquer, 1 part Thinner. This dulls gold the least. Apply with a squirrel brush transparently. Avoid puddles. Dries very quickly. 2. Polyuretane Varnish Gloss, diluted to water consistency (1 part varnish, 2 parts mineral spirits). This varnish is stronger than Lacquer Varnish, but it dulls the gold just a bit. It is not advisable to varnish full strength without diluting, otherwise gold begins to look like cheap metallic paint. I gild first, then put the lacquer protection, then paint. With olifa, you can apply it pretty much the next day after finishing painting. Olifa is not a surface varnish. Even if the processes of curing within the paint layer are not finished, varnishing with a penetrating oil (such as olifa) abort the process of curing and turns the egg tempera into an oil painting. You have to wait for the paint to cure if you apply a surface varnish (non-penetrating).

@user-tg6ib5fh7i

Жыл бұрын

@@paulstetsenko5721 Thank you so much! God bless you!

@user-tg6ib5fh7i

Жыл бұрын

@@paulstetsenko5721 Hello! Your response was very helpful. Perhaps St Colmcille sent you to me. Before I buy the products you have on the video, can you help me figure out what I already have here? 1) I have here a boiled linseed oil, but it has "resin in it." Product: "Matt Olifa Kremer (HARTDROCKENOL) Resin solution. Fast drying. It consists of a boiled mixture of resin (rosin) with linseed oil. It gives hardness, depth and brilliance to oil colors and egg tempera. Does not alter unstable pigments. It is applied like the classic olifa." Can I use this Kremer olifa? What is resin? Should I still add the cobalt drier, which I have. Or should I just buy regular boiled linseed as you show in your video? 2) You wrote to use mineral spirits. I have here something called: "Lefranc Essence de Petrole minerale, Lefranc odorless petroleum essence, Dilutes paint, mediums and varnishes." Is this mineral spirits? Keeping you in my prayers of thanksgiving.

@paulstetsenko5721

Жыл бұрын

@@user-tg6ib5fh7i Kremer's "olifa" is an excellent product. Resin is added, which I believe add hardness to the cured film. You don't need to add a siccative, Kremer has already some in it. Petrole minerale IS mineral spirits. Use without reservation.

@user-tg6ib5fh7i

Жыл бұрын

@@paulstetsenko5721 Thank you!

Verry beautifull ! But I have a question : i ve heard about oils that they enter verry deep in the paint passing the gesso and a bit from the wood . And this , in the case of a restoration , would cause terrible problems like If you want to remove the varnish you ll damage the whole deepness of painting. Do you know if this is true ? Or this may not aply in the case of olifa ?

@paulstetsenko5721

Жыл бұрын

That is, unfortunately, true. By impregnating the egg tempera paint layer with hardening oil (this is what olifa is, linseed oil with added siccatives), we turn it into an oil painting. The oil goes down all the way to gesso and the wood, changing the nature of the painting for good. Restoration of olifa-treated egg tempera painting is a complex process and does not go without some draw-backs. As an alternative, in the last year, I have begun using Paraloid B-72 as a replacement for olifa. It is difficult to work with, but is completely removable and is very strong. I apply it with an airbrush. Warning: the solvent for Paraloid B-72 is toluene or xylene - both are hazmats, very toxic, and extremely noxious. You'd need to use it outdoors with a cartridge mask or in the spray booth. The final results are very good, but it is a hassle to apply. I have learned about Paraloid from Koo Schadler.

@user-ug5vx4hx5x

Жыл бұрын

@@paulstetsenko5721 thank you. God bless !

@user-ug5vx4hx5x

Жыл бұрын

@@paulstetsenko5721 is it possible to varnish with dewaxed shellac and olifa not pass trough?

@paulstetsenko5721

Жыл бұрын

@@user-ug5vx4hx5x please rephrase your question. I am not sure of what you're asking

@paulstetsenko5721

Жыл бұрын

@@user-ug5vx4hx5x if you meant "if I put a coat of shellac and then varnish with olifa", the answer is "no, olifa does not penetrate shellac." There may be a nastier problem developing later: blooming.

Is Dammarvarnish good to use??

@paulstetsenko5721

Жыл бұрын

I don't know. I never tried. These days, I switched to varnishing with Paraloid B-72. It is superior to any varnish I have ever tried.

@morgannorman7089

Жыл бұрын

@@paulstetsenko5721 do you solve it in acetone??🙏

@paulstetsenko5721

Жыл бұрын

I use xylene. When I tried acetone, it dried way too quickly. I dissolve pellets of Paraloid B72 in xylene, 1 part B72 to 8 parts of xylene by weight (important!) and apply this solution with an airbrush. Works like a miracle. You cannot even see the varnish, the surface looks like unvarnished egg tempera. I have learned this through Koo Schadler. Good bye, olifa!