Technique: transforming a wooden panel into a Home Jewelry painting

People frequently ask me why I prefer to paint on a wooden panel rather than a canvas. That is an interesting question, which I will address in this blog article.

To begin, if you ask a restaurateur what works are in the best condition, she or he will say solid wood panels and paintings on copper. As a result, I selected a panel since the work will last considerably longer.

I began painting on quarterly sawn wood planks created on demand by a carpenter in Margraten (near the town of Maastricht, NL). As a result, the panel will not distort. Nowadays, I paint on multilayered wood since it reduces my reliance on a carpenter and reduces the possibility of deformation.

Several preparations are necessary to make the panel suitable for painting. First, it must be properly sized to prevent it from humidity. I use a gelatine-based adhesive for this. Then I adhere Belgian portrait linen purchased from Roeselare (a town in the west of Belgium). This is a strong foundation for preventing the appearance of a wood structure in the final painting.

This panel is then ground using a traditional gesso made of gelatine-based glue and chalk. Gesso is an Italian word that meaning plaster. I maintain the gesso’s composition a well kept secret since it is critical to the final result. It provides the skin a very realistic silky look and feel when teamed with the pigments I use. I use 12 separate layers of gesso, each of which is thoroughly sanded before adding the next layer.

When the panel has been prepped, it is cleaned with 96% alcohol to eliminate any dust. I then use a “imprimatura” technique. This is a monotone coating of an earth colour like ocher. I have some lovely ochers from Roussillon (a lovely hamlet in the south of France). I rub the pigment with distilled water, then make an egg yolk (removing the thin skin) and gently mix it with the aqueous pigment pasta, being careful not to break the emulsion.

After that, I begin sketching the subject on the panel while keeping the composition in mind. I begin painting the underpainting with numerous layers of egg tempera paint. The surface is still far too absorbent for oil painting.

Using yet another secret process I make sure the surface is prepared for the oil paint layers. The underpainting is done in grisaille, brunaille, or verdaccio method. When the underpainting is finished, I begin to overpaint with color. Then the magic happens, and the muse comes to life. I sign the painting after it is done. When it’s dried, I use a retouching varnish to preserve it. The painting receives its final sealing varnish after at least one year.

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