Foil For The Structure

Marble and stone imitations are gaining in importance again given the trend towards luxury. The painter's sheet presents four marble paintings step by step. Episode 4: Verde Alpi Susanne Sachsenmaier-Wahl The last stone that is to be imitated in the four-part Malerblatt series is actually not marble. Rather, the “Verde Alpi” is a serpentinite from Italy, which is often simply called “Green Marble”. Serpentinites have structures on the rock surface that are reminiscent of snake skin, hence the name serpentinite (Latin "serpens" = snake). First, dab green, black and a little blue (from a thinly set filler) with the natural sponge onto the prepared surface until the surface is almost closed. Of course, the sponge is rotated and turned over and over again in order not to get any uniformity. If the dabbed paint is dry, the entire area is filled with a lighter shade of green. Now the sponge structures are clearly visible in the filler layer and already evoke the memory of porous rock. Ancient or ultra-modern Characteristic for the Verde Alpi is its breccia structure, which means that rock debris in an angular form lies in a fine-grained matrix. We have already created the latter using a sponge and filler. So there remains the question of how best to represent the angular rock debris. Otto Baumann, who heads the creative seminars at Jaeger and masters rock painting from the ff, has a solution for this:"Either you take an ancient, hard chamois leather or a state-of-the-art plastic film." With this "tool" you then stamp on glazed white filler in wide strips and create the shape of the "rock". The brush also has to work. But with the breccia structure alone, the Verde Alpi would not be the Verde Alpi. It is also typical for this stone that it is interspersed with bright calcite veins. And these veins can best be mimicked using a brush and glazed white filler. These wires should overlap again and again, as is the case with a network. As always with marble painting, the principle applies again: less is more. If you suddenly findthe fact that you have already overshot the target and painted too many veins or stamped rock outlines is not a broken leg. As long as the white filler is not completely dry, it can still be easily removed with a damp sponge. The smooth, leveled surface makes it possible. If both the boulders and the veins are satisfactory, fill the entire area again with the green filler. As a result, the veins and the foil impressions become more precise. Smooth and shiny Because a marble or other precious stone is not least impressive due to its smoothness, the first cut is now done. Then the veins are repainted in places with a brush and white glaze to accentuate them selectively. After drying, the actual sanding is then necessary. First you use 600, then 1200 paper. This cut does not only serve the smooth surface, it also makes the hard contours and lines of the stone painting look softer and thus more authentic. Finally, you give the marble painting its shine by covering the entire surface with a spatula wax and polishing it as desired.

practice plus

The stone simulation described was produced in a Jaeger creative seminar. A total of four types of marble / stone are presented in the seminar. Further information on the techniques and the seminar: Jaeger Tel.: (07141) 2444-0 / Fax: -44 www.jaegerlacke.de