Painting: Verde Alpi

Marble and stone imitations are gaining in importance again given the trend towards luxury.

Even the last stone that is to be imitated in the four-part painter's sheet 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 stone 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 on 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

A characteristic of the Verde Alpi is its breccia structure, which means that rock debris in an angular form lies in a fine-grained base. 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 highly modern plastic film." in broad webs and thus creates the shape of the "rocks".

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, the principle applies again: less is more. If you suddenly find that you have already overshot the target and painted too many veins or stamped on rock outlines, this 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 another precious stone is not least impressive due to its smoothness, the first cut is done now. 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 a shine by covering the entire surface with a spatula wax and polishing it as desired.

Susanne Sachsenmaier-Wahl Source: Malerblatt 01/2012Painting: Verde Alpi A distinctive green and net-like structures characterize the Verde Alpi. Photos: Susanne Sachsenmaier-WahlPainting: Verde Alpi - Step 1 After green, black and a little gray have been dabbed on with a sponge, the entire surface is covered with a lighter shade of green. Painting: Verde Alpi - Step 2 Use a plastic film to stamp white glaze in wide strips, creating the typical breccia structure, i.e. the square rocks of Verde Alpi. Painting: Verde Alpi - Step 3 The bright calcite veins, from which the Verde Alpi is drawn like a net, are painted on with a brush and glazed white filler. Painting: Verde Alpi - Step 4 As long as the white glaze color is not completely dry, corrections can easily be made using a damp sponge. Painting: Verde Alpi - Step 5 After the breccia structure and the veins have been finished and dried, the area is covered with light green filler. Painting: Verde Alpi - Step 6 In order to accentuate the white veins selectively, they are redrawn in places after a light intermediate sanding of the entire surface. Painting: Verde Alpi - step 7 Finally, the entire surface is covered with a spatula wax and polished. This achieves the shine and depth typical of the stone.