Paintings on gesso board are often religious in nature.
Painting on gesso board with egg tempera was how pictures were made from ancient Grecian times until the 1400s, when the Van Ecyk brothers popularized oil paint. Painting on canvas instead of wooden panels soon followed, as the Renaissance progressed. Pictures of saints and holy images were painted with egg tempera on specially prepared gesso boards. Modern painters often copy Byzantine or Orthodox Christian styles for their artworks on gesso board. The solid wood boards are available in a range of sizes and shapes including round -- or "tondo" -- as well as square, rectangular and pointed-top gothic styles.
Instructions
1. Sand the gesso board until it's smooth. Wipe off the dust with a tack cloth. Prepare rabbit-skin glue to cover the wood's surface in a process known as sizing.
2. Soak one part glue crystals in ten parts room-temperature water for 12 hours. Slowly heat the solution to 175 degrees F in a double boiler. Pour the glue through a cheesecloth filter when it's completely liquefied. Let the glue cool to 140 degrees F. Brush the hot glue onto the board's surface with a flat brush, to saturate and seal the wood fibers. Apply a second thin coat after the first layer dries.
3. Cut a piece of linen or finely woven canvas to fit the board, allowing a 1/4-inch overlap to compensate for shrinkage. Dip the cloth in the hot glue, soak it thoroughly and then press it onto the board. Use a flexible spatula or painting knife to squeeze out any wrinkles or air bubbles.
4. Brush two coats of hot rabbit-hide glue onto the fabric-covered board. Add a half-teaspoon or so of powdered white marble to the glue to solidify it. Work the glue into the weave of the cloth. Let the panel dry overnight.
5. Brush on several coats of gesso, sanding each layer after it dries. Draw a composition on the board with a silverpoint tool. Mix an egg yolk with two parts water, and add powdered tempera pigments. Thin the egg tempera paint with the egg yolk solution.
6. Block in the basic forms and background colors with thin, transparent washes. Build up the colors and define the shapes with more thin layers of paint.
7. Use thick, opaque paint and a fine brush to fill in the details and suggest shadows. Paint in a simple, stylized manner similar to medieval, Byzantine or early Renaissance icons. Use lots of red, blue and yellow tones.
8. Complete the final layer of paint with bright, saturated colors. Smoothly mix colors on the board with a blending brush for an even transition of values. Use fine lines of white for the accented highlights.
