Gorodets painting is applicable for decorating wood products. However, a novice artist who wants to create similar patterns and painting elements, you can use regular paper as a canvas.
History of origin
Gorodets painting originated in the 18th-19th centuries in the Nizhny Novgorod region. There were many talented wood carvers, whose products decorated the everyday life and household utensils of peasants. Fairs with wooden products were famous in this region.
According to history, each village used to celebrate Ivan Kupala Day and, in addition to mass festivities and bonfires, they would look for an unusual fern flower. It grew in the forest and bloomed only one night a year – on Ivan Kupala. The residents did not know what it really was and therefore gave it an individual shade.
Later, Nizhny Novgorod craftsmen decorated wooden items with amazing fern flowers. Some had bright red ones, others had sunny ones, and some had black ones. They were called kupavas with fern leaves. It was believed that such a symbol would bring prosperity and happiness to the home.
Also in those days, every house had a dismountable spinning wheel. After working on it, the bottom, on which the comb was attached, was hung on the wall. To attract attention, it began to be decorated with painting. When fabrics became cheaper, the spinning wheels were hidden, and master carvers, in addition to the bottoms, began to decorate other utensils with strange images, including dishes, furniture, and children's toys.
Drawing tools
True masters say that the most important thing in their work is the state of the soul. It must be pure, enlightened. It is necessary to fully concentrate on the artistic work that lies ahead in the next few minutes.
A modern person, accustomed to a fast pace of life, even with the greatest desire, cannot for a short time detach himself from everyday worldly concerns and problems, as did skilled icon painters who lived several centuries ago. However, one must learn to concentrate on creativity.
It is worth starting with organizing the workplace, paying attention to the following aspects:
| Aspect | Description |
| Table | Gorodets masters differ from Khokhloma and Bogorodsk masters in that they can sit at regular tables during their work. The work surface does not necessarily have to be at knee level of the person sitting. Khokhloma and Bogorodsk masters have long tables, while Gorodets artists work on regular-length tables. Beginners are advised to make sure that the table is wider, preferably with a footrest. |
| Chair | The chair on which the artist will sit should be positioned so that the rays of light are on the left side. |
| Lighting | It is better to give preference to natural lighting. To do this, you can sit near a window with the sun shining through. If this is not possible, you can use a lighting device. The lamp should be bright and positioned so that the canvas on which you plan to paint is evenly illuminated.
All areas of this canvas should receive approximately the same amount of light. Only in this case the light emitted by the device will be close to natural lighting. |
| Room | One of the main conditions is that the work area should be well ventilated. Failure to comply with this requirement may result in an allergic reaction as a result of prolonged interaction with paints, varnishes, solvents and other chemicals that are not very healthy. |
Experts recommend that in order to avoid excessive stress during the process, you should immediately get used to the working position.
To do this, the artist needs:
- be located straight;
- tilt your head slightly;
- make sure that the distance between the eyes and the canvas is slightly more than 30 cm;
- During the process, draw with both the brush and the entire upper limb, starting from the forearm.
Sometimes the artist holds his hands in the air: with his left hand he supports the wooden object, and with his right hand he paints the work itself. Sometimes the master's forearms rest on the surface of the table. This happens, for example, when painting a flat plate.
Before starting work, it is necessary to correctly arrange all the inventory that is planned to be used on the table surface. If this is not done, then during work there will be a fuss. For this reason, real masters strictly observe the established order in placing paints and painting tools on the table.
Namely:
- the space in front of the master is free. Here the objects that will be needed for the work will be placed;
- It is necessary to allocate a space of approximately 0.5 square meters to accommodate 2-3 small boards. They should lie so as not to interfere with each other. Next time, the master can put wooden spoons or boxes to be painted instead of boards;
- Place vessels with paints and a palette near the products. The latter is a wide plate made of glass or plastic. The main condition is that its surface should be easy to clean;
- Place a container of water on the table and put a small cloth underneath it.
For a beginner, the main tools will be brushes, paper and paints.
Paper
You will need white paper. You can take a sheet from a school album.
Paints
Gorodets masters paint elements with oil paints, so you can follow their example. However, a beginner artist is recommended to use gouache. This can be a set for schoolchildren.
Black, white, scarlet, cherry and bright blue are used pure, and yellow, dark green and red are used to obtain new colors. If you mix them correctly, you will get a color scheme similar to Gorodets.
The work also requires cinnabar. This is a material that has a bright red color. It is expensive, so many beginning artists do without it at first. However, without cinnabar it will not be possible to make a good painting.
An artist working with gouache should remember: before applying the 2nd layer, it is necessary to wait until the previously applied layer dries completely. If this is not done, the image will acquire a whitish tint.
Brushes
Craftsmen use different brushes to apply paint to a wooden product. Their exact number and size depend on the techniques used and the scale of the work. Artists can work for several days to create one masterpiece.
All brushes should be placed on special wooden stands.
Gorodets painting (painting elements are done without a model) requires 3 artistic brushes for work:
- squirrel No. 2 or No. 3;
- columnar No. 1 or No. 2;
- soft hair brush.
After work, each brush must be thoroughly washed and dried.
Master classes
Those who want to develop in Gorodets painting should know the following facts about this art:
- the plot is based on plant motifs, images of animals and mass compositions. Previously, masters loved to capture bulls, cats, lions, horses. Plot elements in painting, pictures of folk festivals were often used;
- the palette of tones is wide and varied. Previously, bright shades of green, blue and red tones were used;
- the presence of symbolism in the painting. For example, flowers mean health and prosperity, unusual birds – happiness, and black horses – wealth and prosperity.
There are 3 main types of composition in Gorodets painting:
| Type of painting | Description |
| Floral | This could be:
|
| Plot | This is one of the most complex types, due to the depiction of many small details and characters. These can be scenes of feasts, festivities, celebrations, events of modern life. |
| With animals or birds | These are usually floral motifs with a bird or horse depicted on them. They are characterized by symmetry or asymmetry. |
One of the features of Gorodets painting is that the painting is done without a model. The artist smoothly moves the brush over wood or paper. There are many different techniques used in this painting.
These could be:
- broad strokes created with a thick brush;
- thin lines;
- virtuoso strokes created with a medium-thickness brush.
The scheme of work is as follows:
- Outline the approximate dimensions of the intended composition. It is more convenient to use a pencil rather than paint for this. If something is wrong, you can remove the line with an eraser. However, a pencil is not used to draw the layout. It only helps to outline the size of all the patterns that will be included in the composition.
- Outline the outline of the drawing with paints. This technology, according to the masters, is correct.
- To create the knots of the drawing, use a thin brush and light paint. For masters, this is light oil paint, when a beginner works, it is permissible to use light gouache.
- Apply darker paints to light areas. This is one of the main features of Gorodets painting.
- The image of numerous dots, circles, spiral lines, strokes. All this is needed to "animate" the drawing. The Gorodets masters themselves call these elements "animate".
Drawing for a child
Gorodets painting (elements of painting in execution are accessible to children) can be done by a child in the following stages:
- Create a sketch of the painting. To do this, use paint to outline the size of the future composition and its main components. If a wooden surface is chosen as a canvas, it is recommended to first draw the size on paper. It will be easier to transfer the finished composition from paper to a wooden product than to immediately outline the size on wood.
- After the ornament has been created on paper or wood, select the main center of the composition.
- Think about what color patterns will be included in the composition being created.
- After deciding on the color scheme of the composition, begin detailed drawing. The nature of the drawing largely depends on the artist's skill level.
Children who are just starting to draw in general and create Gorodets patterns in particular are recommended to choose something simpler. For example, you can draw a sun.
To do this:
- Draw a circle in the center using red paint.
- Draw numerous straight lines around the circle, going in all directions. In doing so, observe an important condition for Gorodets painting: the rays must have the same length and the same width.
- If the work is being done on wood rather than paper, apply varnish to the entire surface at the final stage.
Patterns for older children
Children who are about to go to the 1st grade can choose patterns of the intermediate level. They should not be too complicated, otherwise the young artist will become too bored, and the work, which initially promises a lot of interesting things, will be abandoned.
First, you should introduce the child to this drawing technique, which does not take much time, then choose a simple ornament and depict, for example, a flower. Thanks to this painting, the child will be able to make, for example, a bookmark for a book.
Drawings can be done on paper or wooden boards. You can also decorate shallow plates made of wood with Gorodets painting.
To do this you need:
- Use a simple pencil to outline the dimensions of the entire composition and mark its center.
- Start drawing the flower. Draw a red circle in the previously marked center.
- Mix red gouache with white. The result is pink. Draw the 2nd circle with the resulting pink paint. It should be larger in area than the 1st.
- Draw a circle with red paint.
- Draw the circle again with pink paint. This way, thanks to the efforts of the young artist, the flower will acquire a multi-colored core.
- Proceed to drawing the petals located around the round core. Green and brown gouache are suitable for this. First, draw a green petal, then a brown one, after that - constantly alternate green and brown petals.
- To draw the petals from the inside, use light green paint. To get it, just mix green gouache with white. Coloring the petals with light green paint should be done with a thin brush.
- If the work was done not on paper, but on a wooden surface, then at the final stage, cover everything with varnish.
Buds with leaves
Gorodets painting (painting elements are available at the initial stage for preschoolers) can be in the form of buds with leaves. For this, it is better to use a round base, tinted to look like wood.
The stages of drawing are as follows:
- Draw 1 circle slightly below the center of the round base. To the left and right of it, slightly higher, place another 1 circle of a smaller size.
- Use pink paint to paint the central circle. The side circles can be made blue. If you don't need color, mix 2 paints to get it.
- Draw a small red circle on the top edge of the large pink circle. It should partially extend beyond the pink circle.
- The same shading should be done on the two outermost, blue circles. In this case, use blue paint, not red. The small circles should be darker than the large ones above which they are depicted.
- Add petals to the central circle and mark the blue arches on the side circles.
- To depict petals around the rosebud, use the red paint that was used for shading in the previous step. The petals should be rounded. Their number can vary, for example, 8.
- To create the arches on the side blue circles, use blue paint.
- Go to the image of leaves and branches. The blotting technique will help to create neat symmetrical leaves.
- Draw 2 oblong green leaves to the left and right of the central bud.
- Draw 1 branch, each with 5 small leaves, above each of the blue-light blue buds. These branches should be located in the upper half of the round base.
- To "revive" the drawing, use a thin brush. With light touches, put dots, small drops, strokes, and arches on the surface. At this stage, it is important to know the sense of proportion and not to get carried away. There should not be too many "revival" elements.
Flowers
Gorodets painting (elements of painting in the form of flowers are the most common) flowers can be depicted in the following stages:
- Decide on the material that will be used as a canvas.
- Choose paint for drawing. The main thing to remember when choosing is that the drawing should be colorful. The more bright colors are used in this work, the better.
- Once the materials are selected, start marking the dimensions of the future composition and the centers of the flowers. This is done with a simple pencil.
- Using bright paint, draw a circle around each marked center.
- Petals extend from the center to the edges of the circle. There can be 12 of them for each flower. To draw the petals, use a darker paint than the core of the flower.
- Each flower must have a petal. To draw the salad petals from the inside, use a thin brush.
- Draw the contours with dark paint, but it should not be black.
- A good addition to this Gorodets composition will be berries, which can be depicted using blue paint. They should be located near the flowers.
Horse
A horse often appears in Gorodets painting.
Here's how you can perform this element:
- Prepare black or brown paint.
- Before you start drawing the horse, create a suitable background. Since the horse itself will be dark, the background should be made light. In this case, the main element will stand out better.
- Drawing a horse begins with drawing the body. For this, use a medium-sized brush.
- First make the outline, then color it.
- To draw the legs, tail and neck, use a thinner brush.
- Separately draw the horse's hooves.
- Draw the mane. It is better to use red paint for this.
- To decorate and complement the composition, create a beautiful ornament. It can act as a frame in which the drawing is enclosed. You can also draw a horse running towards the sun.
Gorodets painting is one of the most ancient artistic crafts in Russia. Thanks to these flower stencils, you can create beautiful patterns and ornaments.
Often elements of this painting are used to create beautiful flowers, a peacock proudly displaying its magnificent tail, and other birds. Such work will give the artist many positive emotions. The main thing is to create with soul. In this case, even a beginner can get a true masterpiece.
Video about Gorodets painting
How to draw a flower Kupavka:
Such valuable, accessible and understandable material on the topic of Gorodets painting you gave to the teacher of additional education. Professionally and with soul. Thank you very much.