Black Gold: The Imitation Of Portor Marble Step By Step

In the fifth episode of the wall painting series, Friederike Schulz presents the imitation of Portor marble

Author | Photos: Friederike Schulz

Portor marble (which is called “Portor di Portovenere” or “Nero Portoro” in its full name) is mainly mined in Liguria and also referred to as black gold, since its iron-containing veins in the black limestone appear almost golden. Its appearance gave this natural stone its name: This is made up of "Nero" for its black color, "Porto" comes from the nearby town of Porto Venere and "Oro" stands for the gold-colored veins. The Portor marble belongs to the veined types of marble - but looks like a Brèchem marble. It is relatively easy to imitate, because its structure is developed from the style.

You need this for the marble imitation

To create this marble imitation, you need a black painted base as the basis - a matt acrylic lacquer is best suited. Three brushes are required for the execution: a cowhide tractor, a flat brush or small modler and a badger distributor. The following acrylic colors should be available on a palette: white, yellow, burnt umber, burnt Siena, natural Siena. In addition, you need for the finish: white and black as well as some binder and water for the glaze effect.

And that's how it's done

In the first step, the vein is drawn with the cowhide tractor. The brush is always "refueled" directly from the palette - the brush is rotated in color, which means that the color remains on the brush in different ways, so that when the veins are drawn in, a multicolored effect is created. In order to create the characteristic vein, the brush is turned on the surface - this creates a versatile shaded gold tone. The thick veins are connected with each other with fine lines. The result after the first work step is a surface interwoven with chains, which are connected by fine lines. In the second step, a large part of the black fields are "softened" with a flat brush in the third step. Here you should definitely work field by field, as the glaze quickly picks up. Finally, fine veins with white across the grain are painted in with the cowhide tractor. It is advisable to work only with the brush tip.

Other episodes of the decorative painting series:

Wall in a tartan skirt

Painted mahogany wood

Painted fabric

Three-dimensional painting