This is the only tutorial on the entire Internet that includes the linen before gesso. I’ve been searching for days. Thank you, kindly.

Thank you, this is one of the best art demonstrations I have seen, I researched egg tempera for a long time and this has helped me enormously!

Thank you so much for this demonstration. As a newbie to icon writing it is very interesting, informative, and enlightening to see all that goes in to preparing the boards. An art in itself. Thank you again.

Further, sanding eliminates very effectively any localised lumps but after dong that, I also use a metal scraper to pull across the surface and with that, you get a very flat surface that you can gild onto (including water gilding) and it ends up like a mirror. On online videos, you can get rid of any slight irregularities in the gesso by sprinkling graphite powder on it and continuing to scrape where there is graphite in the irregularities. You can get these scrapers from artist's shops or if you are prepared to spend the time rather than the money, like me, you can go around various shops that do decorating stuff and get a wallpaper scraper that has a sharp edge and NO lumps along it. Excellent video. Nice to see someone who knows what he is doing teaching others.

My second board turned out much much better. I followed the instructions more precisely. The use of the spatula, takes some practice. Thank you!

thank you very much for the tutorial. It was well-explained. I liked the additional tips that you provided as well. It's a long process but I will give it a try anyhow!

Peter,I send happynes ,and prosperity ,love...thank you for teach me...blessing from God..

Thank you!

Thank you! My first board turn out very good. And the process was not as messy as I thought it would be. When I mixed the glue I used the same measurements but added boiling water, mixed gently and then let it rest for 3 hours. For the very last sanding I used a fine grade (600). The whole process took me 2 days, but I admit I took my time. Perseverance, Patience and Prayer always works!

Excellent presentation! Carry on!

Thanks for finer points of heating rabbit skin eg 50’cap. Spatula a great idea. & 180 sandpaper.

Thanks for the tutorial

One way of stopping warping almost entirely is to do what the Flemish artists did at the beginning of the renaissance and that is to use quarter cut oak to paint on. I use this and it is beautiful to work on. In the National Gallery, there are plenty of works from the fifteenth century and before and they have stood up to time very well. The glue in modern marine plywood is at the moment (and arguably for the next five centuries at least) an unknown. Additionally, if you put your glue on the back as well as the front when you first use glue, it will largely prevent water from getting into the wood from the back thus reducing additional warping. I suppose the trick is to make the back of the wood just as susceptible to water incursion as the front by using the same materials.

Can you write a list of all the items that you used? And from where we can buy them? Thank you

Thank you..love..Elisa..

Been told that pine is a very bad wood to use for iconography and that plywood is much better. No braces needed as well.

Thank you for your demonstration. It is easy to follow and understand. How many ply must the board have? I have seen proper plywood locally with 7 layers. Is that good enough? I had heard I need a plywood with 13 layers. Is that necessary?

Hello Can I use bamboo wood for icons?

Thank you so much ~~~~ :)

thanks for the detailed video. And yess, no need to dust the camera 😁. One more thing, does the white powder has a name, a brand? I live in Lebanon, and just need some alternatives. Thank you

Am I correct that this process can be used for any painting medium type, i.e. oil painting, egg tempera (icon), acrylic, etc and silver point? Im assuming that silver point can be don on these panels.

Thank YOU! Very much appreciated by me, here in Sweden. But, what is "rabbit skinn glue"?…

Hello, I would like to ask please, for painting with egg tempera on unprimed masonite is better to attach or (stick) canvas? I appreciate an answer. Thank you very much.

Great tutorial. Is it 50 degrees of Farenheit or Celsius?

Was the whitening powder chalk or marble powder?

Mr. Blackwood, if there is left over glue, how should one keep it so that it doesn't lose its adhesiveness?

Need I to coated with gesso or rabbit skin glue if I painted on plywood with egg tempera ( because plywood has on one side white color)? I am waiting for answering, thank you very much.

Mr. Blackwood, lately my gesso has been a bit 'bubbly' and this creates tiny bubbles on the panel, which turn into pinpricks or tiny holes. What can I do to prevent bubbles in the gesso?

What exactly are you preparing these boards for? I am not familiar with the term "icon panel"- do you mean a decorative painting? What is the "whiting" made of, is that marble dust, or a chalk, titanium, zinc?

can you tell me about the fabric, exactly what type you get and where it can be found

After P160 an other finer sandpaper?

can i not stick fabric? my woods are the same as yours.I am waiting for your answer thank you!

Call me silly if you want to --- I would love to try my hand at icon painting, but I am a vegetarian. I do not mind using unfertilized eggs for the tempera, but balk at rabbit skin glue. Is there a viable alternative that would work as well? Thank you all.

Goοd morning ,sorry to bother you , i think the edges are not stuck well, what can i do? can i do another layer of glue? i think the glue solution is not strong. Now that it is dry, can I repeat the process?I am waiting for your answer thank you very much!

Hello, can I coat with rabbit skin glue and gypsum directly on birch plywood and paint with egg tempera without linen, cloth, or other else? I am waiting for answering, thank you very much.

Can l use it ON PAPER.