It is common to have visited churches and seen icons of the Virgin with the child on a golden background. This technique is very old and is generally applied to highlight things that were important in the works, such as aureolas or significant details.
The Gold technique
Learning to put the Gold is a technique that requires time, since the sheets are so thin and delicate that they break easily. You can hardly breathe while you apply it. In La Saleta de Creació we have made a self-portrait with Gold backgrounds with the children.
Following the idea of the Byzantine icons, the children have applied Gold at the bottom of the table. We have taught them to apply a false Gold.
First, you have to do the drawing and color it with paint. For the background, it is important that you apply acrylic paint because otherwise the gold leaf is not taken well.
See how the drawings look before putting the gold leaf.
It is a long technique that requires waiting time and preparation of the table. In the waiting times of drying of the table, we have taken advantage to make different types of Christmas decorations. Some have put gold bread on the balls of the tree and others have pineapples.
When putting the Gold, the drawings change a lot. Look how it looks :
This drawing is about a 4 year old girl !!
