I've completed the icon. I must admit, I gave up on the tempera icon. I need more time to understand the medium. I can say that I have learned much from the process. I did keep the icon, although every time I look at it I am disappointed.
I am most disappointed in that I wasn't able to complete the icon entirely by traditional means. Some of the things I was unable to do and changed for my acrylic icon are the following...
1. Gilding: Traditionally gold leaf is applied to parts on the icon, typically the background, or around the halo. The area to be gilded is prepped first with red bole, a reddish clay. Symbolically this red underlay represents the literal earth from which humanity has risen.
The gold leaf represent "God's breath," breathing life in to the clay, into man. The gold also represents heavenly light.
Not all icons use gold leaf. Halos on icons have been painted in different colors, yellow, red, and even green. I used 'fine gold' acrylic for mine.
2. Highlights: While I did highlight my piece, it did not have the effect I was aiming for. Highlighting the icon, as all aspects of writing an icon, has symbolic meaning. There are two highlights. The first highlight represents the "light of nature" or natural light. This light comes from the side and above. This highlight is slightly lighter than the colors that you have been painting with, and is layered thinly over 3/4 of the piece. It must be mentioned that the icon, especially the flesh tones, is made up of many layers of paint. The second highlight, called Anthropos, represents human intellect and culture; it covers about 1/2 of the previously painted highlight. The third highlight, Theocasm, represents angelic light. This last highlight is brighter and more specifically placed.
3. Olifa: When the icon is finished, using tempera, it then is set aside in a dust free place for two to three weeks to cure. Then olifa, a blend of two kinds of linseed oil, is applied to surface to create a finish. Before applying the oil, the icongrapher makes a sign of the cross on themselves, then over the icon and then pours the oil onto the icon in the shape of a cross. The oil is then sperad by hand evenly across the surface, including the sides. The icon then sets for three hours, and then the oil is wiped off with a paper towel. You repeat the wiping process over the course of the next several hours until no more oil can be removed. The icon then dries for the next 3 to 10 days.
As I painted in acrylic, I used a gloss finish on my icon, saving the drying wait.
It is interesting to note that olifa is used as it makes the surface area of the icon "kissable" and "touchable." One can reapply olifa as needed.
