Zhostovo painting
(Zhostovo)
Zhostovo painting- folk craft of artistic painting of metal trays, existing in the village of Zhostovo, Mytishchi district Moscow region.
The craft of painted metal trays arose in the mid-18th century. in the Urals, where the Demidov metallurgical plants were located (Nizhny Tagil, Nevyansk, Verkh-Neyvinsk), and only in the first half of the 19th century did trays begin to be made in the villages of the Moscow province - Zhostovo, Troitsky, Novoseltsev, etc. Soon the Moscow craft became the leading one. Currently, the production of trays with lacquer painting is concentrated in the village of Zhostovo, Moscow region and in Nizhny Tagil. From the first half of the 19th century, workshops for the production of painted trays operated in several villages of the Moscow province: Ostashkov, village. Troitsky, Sorokin, Khlebnikov, etc.
The Zhostovo factory dates back to the workshop (opened in 1825) of peasants who bought off their freedom - the Vishnyakov brothers. Before this, the Vishnyakovs were engaged in painting lacquer miniatures, so the origin of the Zhostovo craft itself is associated with Lukutinsky lacquer miniatures on papier-mâché, produced in nearby Fedoskino.
In the last third of the 19th century, the production of trays in Zhostovo reached its peak. The son of F. Vishnyakov made a significant contribution to the development of the fishery.
Trays with genre paintings were considered the most artistic and expensive: racing three horses, peasant girls near the outskirts, tea drinking scenes. Similar compositions were performed by craftsmen on lacquer boxes. At exhibitions, the Vishnyakov trays were recognized as the best in painting, quality of varnish and polishing. The secret of success was that the iron was covered with primer, varnished many times and carefully polished on both the front and back sides. In genre and flower painting, masters used the same techniques as in miniature painting on boxes.
An original decorative technique in Zhostovo was the way of decorating trays with a smoky candle flame, which imitated the color of a tortoise shell and received the local name “worm”. Two such trays were used in the family of Leo Tolstoy in the 1880s, and now they can be seen in the Moscow estate-museum in Khamovniki.
There are memories of Zhostovo painters of the 19th century about training young artists. “At first they forced me to write the “horizon” - a combination of blue and pink, then hills, valleys, a “country land”, then light landscapes made up of one or two houses, then various Moscow views.”
In 1928, several artels formed on the basis of workshops after the revolution merged into one - “Metal Tray” in the village of Zhostovo, which was later (1960) transformed into the Zhostovo Decorative Painting Factory.
Zhostovo painting technique
Trays are made from ordinary sheet iron. Forged products are primed, puttied, sanded and varnished, which makes their surface impeccably smooth, then painted with oil paints and covered with several layers of transparent colorless varnish.
The most important operation that requires true creativity is painting.
The subjects of painting are floral and plant ornaments and everyday scenes from folk life, landscapes, scenes of folk festivals, weddings and tea parties. The most common type of Zhostovo painting is a bouquet located in the center of the tray and framed along the side with a small golden pattern. In this construction one can see a certain reflection of the composition of an easel still life of the 19th century, enclosed in a gilded frame. But the motif itself received a more decorative and conventional interpretation than in easel paintings. It becomes part of a decorative item; special techniques allowed the craftsmen to organically fit it, as if “fusing” it into the varnished surface of the tray. The bouquet turned into an elegant group of flowers, laid loosely on a shiny lacquer background. Three or four large flowers (rose, tulip, dahlia, and sometimes more modest pansies, bindweed, etc.) were surrounded by a scattering of smaller flowers and buds, interconnected by flexible stems and light “grass,” that is, small twigs and leaves. The image seemed to be born from the shimmering depths, dissolving in it with transparent shadows and flashing with bright bouquets on the surface. The flowers, slightly “recessed” into the background, seemed light, semi-voluminous; these tactful angles and turns of the corollas did not visually break through the plane of the object.
The technique of Zhostovo painting, like the painting of each tray itself, is original and unique, because it is performed without any samples. Behind the captivating lightness and unconstrained artistry of writing lies enormous skill, developed by generations of talented, formerly unknown peasant artists.
Zhostovo artists paint with oil paints and soft squirrel brushes. While working, the artist holds the tray on his knee and turns it when necessary. And the hand with the brush rests on a wooden plank lying across the tray. The artist first only outlines the future painting, paints freely with quick and precise strokes. And even repeating the drawing, the master improvises and adds something new.
Painting is carried out in several stages:
Primer
Before the artist begins to paint the metal tray blank, it is primed, puttied, sanded and varnished. At this stage, choose a color for the background. Most often it is black, but it can also be white, red, blue, turquoise, etc.
Zamalenok
The beginning and basis of the composition of the future pattern. Using diluted paint, the artist applies silhouettes of flowers and leaves to the prepared surface in accordance with his design. The painted trays are dried in ovens for several hours.
The artist applies colored shadows with translucent paints. Flowers gain volume and the shady places of plants are indicated.
Pad
Perhaps the most important stage of layer-by-layer Zhostovo writing. The shape of the bouquet takes on flesh - many details are clarified, a contrasting or more harmonious structure of the entire composition is highlighted and realized.
Glare
Layering highlights brings out light and dimension. The bouquet appears to be illuminated by multiple independent light sources. Glare creates mood and color.
Drawing
This is the final part of working on the bouquet. Using a special thin brush, the artist applies small but very significant strokes - he draws veins and lacy edges on the leaves, “seeds” in the center of the flower cups.
Binding
The penultimate stage of painting a tray, when the finished bouquet seems to blend into the background of the product. With the help of thin stems, blades of grass and tendrils, the bouquet is formed into a single whole and connected with the background.
Decoration of the side of a tray, consisting of geometric or floral patterns. The cleaning can be modest or it can rival the opulence of antique picture frames. Without cleaning, the product looks unfinished.
As a result, endless variations of similar motifs and images appear, but you will never see exact copies or repetitions among them. Zhostovo’s art is based on writing techniques developed over generations, without which his artistic mastery would have been impossible. It is born in the very process of a kind of painting-painting, combining strict consistency and precision of craft techniques with improvisational creativity.
“Zhostovo or the secret of a velvet bouquet. (Excursion Zhostovo-Fedoskino)”... The factory consists of ordinary gray buildings elongated in breadth and height. It is located a little away from the village of Zhostovo. A beautiful sign on the road in the form of a flower tray leads to it.
…A “visit” to a factory store can hardly be called just a visit. Most likely, it was worse than the Tatar-Mongol attack on the Russian settlement, except without the haze of fires in the ruins.
... What was going on there is indescribable. The sailors who took Winter Palace, here they smoke nervously on the sidelines. The soundtrack was, excluding Russian folk expressions, something like this: “Where... damn... goat... scoundrel... are you climbing... give me... ah... oh... now I’ll tell you... like that myself, etc.”
We approach the pretty village of Zhostovo, it feels like there are trays in every home. :) The bus travels along a narrow village street bordered by snow-covered birches and, following a beautiful sign in the form of a flower tray, turns onto the road to the Zhostovo factory.
Factory in Zhostovo 
Factory It is an ordinary gray body elongated in breadth and height. It is located a little away from the village. In the lobby they give out covers for shoes, we hand things over to the locker room, and crowd around a woman artist sitting by the window at a table. She, apparently, is waiting for us and begins to draw. She has a small black tray on her lap, a palette of paints on the table, and her hand rests on a ruler so as not to smear the drawing. But first she passed the hard end of the brush over the tray several times. " Why are you crossing the tray?“- she was immediately asked from our crowd. " This is me marking the center of the composition“- answered the artist. She still paints “paints” with whitewash, but the feeling when you watch her is amazing. A confident hand, soft strokes, literally 5 minutes later a wonderful pink bouquet appeared out of nowhere. I can already distinguish in it the future rose and apple blossoms. Judging by the beauty of the composition, you understand that this tray is drawn seriously, and not just for the amusement of the arriving audience. Although some of the public is already dissatisfied: “ Well, let's finally go to the magic...m-m-museum! " - the capricious voice of some impatient aunt is heard.
A “visit” to a factory store can hardly be called just a visit. Most likely, it was worse than the Tatar-Mongol attack on the Russian settlement, except without the haze of fires in the ruins. Let's start with the fact that halfway through the guide's story in the Zhostovo Museum, the caps of a group of running women from our bus flashed behind the windows facing the street. They ran in the direction of the store (entrance is from the street). The leader, obviously, was the same lady who was very nervous about the “slow” working artist. The desire to rush off to the treasured store with her friends as soon as possible was beyond her already low standards of decency.
After the official end of the tour, everyone was invited to visit the factory's signature tray store. The entrance to it was located outside the museum, at the beginning of the factory building itself, and was decorated with a poster with Zhostovo painting. Almost the entire remaining mass of the bus rushed there, headlong and forgetting to remove the polyethylene bags from their boots.
What happened there is indescribable. The sailors who took the Winter Palace are smoking nervously on the sidelines. I already wrote about “costs” bus tour in this regard, in the story about Gzhel; barely restraining herself, she indicated “this” in the story about Fedoskino; but here it is very difficult to describe what our people are doing in the wake of buying fever in ordinary words.
Shop. Trays 
You know, as a child I had a favorite book “The Adventures of Dunno” with wonderful drawings by Valka. So, the funny drawn relationships between the incredibly funny little guys really reminded me of the atmosphere in the store.
In one corner, two women in long fur coats were puffing and pulling one tray in different directions. Don't believe me? :) He was the only one - with rowan trees. So they divided it. Naturally the strongest one won. In another corner, someone was on someone else's shoulders, removing attached trays from the wall. The first wave of lucky ones tightly cemented the approach to the counter. The second wave took the first by storm in the form of a ram, i.e. with a running start she hit the shaggy fur coated backs that stood like a monolithic wall. The soundtrack was, excluding Russian folk expressions, something like this: “ Where... damn... goat... scoundrel... are you climbing... give me... ah... oh... right now I’ll tell you... like that myself, etc.." The saleswoman behind the counter shouted at the shout: “ People, where, where did you take this tray... why are you taking it off... oh, what are you doing... ahh».
Of course, at first I wanted to pretend to be a proud girl with my head held high and wait out this whole collective farm on the street. But then I quickly assessed the harsh realities and realized that in this situation I would not bring home anything at all - the people there were buying trays in unimaginable quantities, almost in bulk. Therefore, remembering my favorite exercise equipment, yoga and Cuban dancing at the World Class I once visited, I rushed to climb the shaggy fur coats. From what I remember: it seemed like, having broken through the defense, I grabbed some kind of black tray standing along the walls; grabbed one white one on the wall; and pulled towards her a small light green one that someone had dropped. It arrived at the cash register - I paid. Then the people's wave threw him against the wall. But I'm with trays! :) Why grumble! :)
Queue for trays 
The funny thing is that in the middle of it my husband called. How can I answer this - I’ve almost climbed through! :):) Hearing the noise and sounds of battle, my husband asked: “ Where are you?» - « In the museum“,” I said, breathlessly, punching a hole for myself, under someone’s furry sleeve. " What are you doing there?“- the husband was genuinely surprised.
But I had no time to answer; my hand, stuck into the hole, had already found something invisible and hard on the counter, and I had no time to talk.
In general, now, like a seasoned bison, I can now give advice for free. If you arrived by bus, then you need to choose comrades - either songs or dances. That is, you either fully enjoy the excursion - you stay in the museum and talk with the guide, or you also fully satisfy your natural shopping needs - immediately upon arrival you sneeze at the museum and go to the store. There is also a third option: you visit the museum and wait out the heat of passion in a store on the street, but then all you have to do is buy up the remnants of the former luxury on the counter and a wide assortment of remaining designer trays from 10 thousand rubles. :). There is another option - to calmly buy these trays in their showroom at the All-Russian Exhibition Center - but this, you see, is not at all the same! A trophy obtained in hand-to-hand combat is much dearer to the heart than one bought insipidly. :) And there is one simply different (from others :)) option. Take a car and come to Zhostovo. Arrange for a tour at the factory. Calmly come, calmly look and calmly buy trays (I can’t even believe that this happens).
Yes, that's what I bought. I could only see it at home. My artistic eye did not let me down even in such a “heated” environment. A black rectangular one - with bright red roses, a white round one - with a bouquet of wildflowers, and a small bright lime one with bells and yellow water lilies. From the signature I realized that one of them was drawn by the same artist who showed us the master class. Nice.
Shop. Trays 
Now you need to master the ingenious design of 3 loops for fur coats strung on a string, and hang this beauty on the wall. And on green I will serve guests apple jam and Tula printed gingerbread cookies :).
Nikolai Antipov's tray. "Flowers on a golden background." Photo from the museum 
Zhostovo painting is one of the most famous folk crafts of painting metal trays. Thanks to the work and skill of Russian craftsmen, these trays from everyday objects became real works of decorative and applied art.
Zhostovo tray - as we know it.
History of the fishery
The birthplace of folk crafts is the village of Zhostovo, Moscow region, and its history began in the first decades of the 19th century. The emergence of the craft of painting iron trays in the Moscow region was caused by several important events:
- the discovery by Russian masters of the secret of transparent varnish;
- with the emergence in the 18th century in the Urals - the center of Russian metallurgy - of the craft of painting metal trays, the main images on these trays - floral and floral ornament;
- manufacturing in St. Petersburg trays of unusual shapes with patterns of flowers, birds, complex curls, etc.;
- discovery in the 1820s in Zhostovo by F.N. Vishnyakov workshops, where the production of painted varnished products was established from papier-mâché: trays, boxes, all kinds of boxes, etc.
An artist at work in the workshop of F.N. Veshnyakov.
These products were painted with scenes from folk life and landscapes.
In the 1830s, trays were forged from metal, and soon only they began to be produced in Zhostovo. Despite the initial influence of the technique and themes of painting Ural and St. Petersburg trays, by the 1870s the Zhostovo tray had gained original style and unique painting.
At the end of the 19th century, cities in Russia were actively growing, numerous shops, hotels, taverns and restaurants were opening. They all needed trays, which contributed to the development of Zhostovo craft.
In 1960 there was Zhostovo factory organized decorative painting, which employs wonderful craftsmen and produces trays that are in great demand both in Russia and in other countries.
Zhostovo factory. Soviet period.
Features and techniques for making Zhostovo trays
Trays have various sizes and shapes. They can be huge, the size of a table, or small, no larger than a saucer. The most common shapes are oval and round, but there are rectangular, square, triangular, polygonal, and combined shapes.
Trays are made from sheet iron using cold forging or stamping. Before painting, the product is primed and puttied, then carefully sanded and repeatedly coated with colored varnish. Trays painted with oil paints, and after painting, transparent varnish is applied several times.
The main theme of Zhostovo paintings is large bouquets of large and small flowers. The flower bouquet is located in the center of the tray. There is a golden pattern along the side of the tray. Bouquets can be complemented with images of berries and joyful, colorful birds. There are also scenes from folk life and landscapes. One of the favorite subjects has long been that of a daring three horses.
A favorite subject is the Russian troika.
The background of the trays is not only black; it can be dark green, bright red, blue, gold and even white.
Stages of painting:
- daubing - applying silhouettes of flowers and leaves;
- shadow - applying shadows;
- spacer - determining the shape of flowers and leaves;
- glare - applying highlights creates color and mood, gives volume to the image;
- drawing - drawing the contours of each flower and leaf with a thin brush;
- binding - antennae, twigs, blades of grass are drawn, connecting the bouquet into a single whole;
- cleaning - applying a pattern to the sides of the tray.
Stages of drawing.
Thanks to the variety of color combinations and their arrangement on the tray, each Zhostovo tray is unique. Among the millions of trays made over almost 200 years no two are alike.
Each product is unique.
Festive, bright trays are used not only in everyday life, but also as decoration.
Zhostovo trays are very popular, so they are often counterfeited. To distinguish a real tray from Zhostovo, you must first look at the edge of the tray. It should be perfectly smooth and even. On the back of the tray there should be The trademark of the Zhostovo factory is a flower and a tassel.
Amazing with its variety and color, splashing on a black or colored surface, the painting forms bright floral patterns, decorated with the finest details. Exquisite roses and scarlet poppies, simple daisies and touching cornflowers, pompous peonies and radiant asters are combined with unknown, but no less beautiful flowers. Birds and butterflies, various berries and fruits look lifelike on such simple and ordinary objects as trays. No matter how much you search, you will not find a single identical tray - each of them is unique! Where did such art come to us from, how are such beautiful things made, where can you take lessons in Zhostovo painting? This article will tell you about this and about the features of metal painting that are characteristic of craftsmen from Zhostovo near Moscow.
The history of lacquer painting
According to historical and archaeological data, the Chinese were the first to master the art of lacquer painting. Several thousand years ago, during the Shan Yin era, the inhabitants of China decorated everyday objects, weapons and ritual vessels with lacquer designs.
Following China, the art of varnish painting conquered the countries of Indochina, Persia and India, Japan and Korea. In each region, the technique of lacquer painting developed independently, based on the traditions of folk crafts, but also borrowing the experience of masters from other countries.
How did lacquer painting come to Russia?
European merchants in the 16th-17th centuries, trading with the countries of Southeast Asia, brought beautiful examples of painted lacquerware to their homeland. Inspired by the beauty and originality of oriental objects of various shapes and purposes, decorated with lacquer images, craftsmen from many European countries begin to make and decorate various things in the “Chinese” style.
Serious development of the production of objects decorated with lacquer painting, in such European countries, like Holland, England, Germany and France, occurred only in the 18th century.
The Ural industrialist Nikita Akinfievich Demidov traveled extensively throughout Europe, where he became interested in the idea of varnish painting. In 1778, in the Urals, in Nizhny Tagil, the craft of Ural flower painting on metal began to emerge.
The emergence of Zhostovo varnish painting on metal
Metal chests and trays, jugs and buckets, made in the Urals and decorated with lacquer painting, as well as other everyday items were sold not only at the local Irbit and Krestovskaya fairs, but also at the All-Russian Makaryevskaya Fair in Nizhny Novgorod.
Perhaps it was the products of the Ural craftsmen seen here that inspired the Vishnyakov brothers to varnish painting metal trays. Since 1825, the Vishnyakov family business has developed mainly as varnish painting of various papier-mâché products - snuff boxes, cigarette cases, albums, crackers and boxes.
Since 1830, most workshops located in villages and hamlets of the Trinity volost, such as Troitskoye, Khlebnikovo and Zhostovo, stopped making objects from papier-mâché, and switched to the production and painting of metal trays.
The proximity to the capital allowed the fishery to do without intermediaries and have a constant sales market, as well as purchase the necessary materials at reasonable prices.
History of the development of the fishery
Starting from the 30s of the 19th century, metal trays began to be made and decorated with varnish in almost all surrounding villages. At this time, Zhostovo painting was at the peak of its popularity. In the post-revolutionary years, the demand for the products of Zhostovo artists sharply decreased, which led to the unification of disparate artists into small professional artels.
In 1928, all small artels from Troitsky, Novosiltsev, Zhostovo and other surrounding villages united into a specialized artel “Metalpodnos” with a management center in Zhostovo.
The most difficult time for Zhostovo painting, as for most other folk crafts, was the 40-50s of the last century. It was at this time that the production of trays decreased significantly, but the production of children's goods unusual for the trade increased several times. Zhostovo painting for children consists of small wooden and metal trays, buckets and shovels, decorated with individual elements.
Modern history
Khrushchev's “thaw” brought positive changes to the life of the fishery. In 1960, the Metallopodnos artel was reorganized and received its current name - the Zhostovo Decorative Painting Factory. Attention from the government, active joint work of craftsmen and scientists, participation in various domestic and foreign exhibitions allowed the fishery to emerge from a long-term crisis.
Features of formation
As already mentioned, Zhostovo painting developed under the influence of Ural flower painting on metal. But Zhostovo craftsmen, who initially processed and decorated various objects made of papier-mâché, managed to transfer all their technological discoveries to metal trays. For their primers, they used their own compositions, as well as special copal varnishes.
The nearby center of Lukutinsky lacquer miniatures had no less influence on the development of the craft. The further stylistic development of Zhostovo painting was influenced by Rostov enamel and floral motifs of Ivanovo chintz, as well as painting on porcelain, carried out in factories near Moscow.
What and how are trays made from?
Modern Zhostovo trays are produced in two ways: stamping and forging.
Blanks for trays of standard shapes and sizes are made from ordinary sheet iron using special mechanical presses. Then, on an electric press, using special molds and a combined stamp, the edges are rolled up - beading. To make the sides of the tray rigid, they are rolled.
Zhostovo painting artists can work not only with standard tray shapes. There are 26 standard forms to choose from, from which the most appropriate one is selected. Then, if it is unique, a farrier (blacksmith) gets to work making a forged tray. To do this, a bracket is cut out of several metal sheets using hand scissors, which is subsequently, under the influence of a hammer, pulled out and knocked out. When rolling, a special wire is inserted into the edges of the tray, which ensures its strength, and then the edge itself is leveled with a hammer.
How are trays prepared for painting?
After the trays have taken shape and have been rolled, they are primed on both sides with putty consisting of chalk diluted in drying oil. Once the primed tray has dried in a special cabinet, the master primer sands the surface with sandpaper and then applies another coat of putty. Previously, the tray was covered in two layers of black soil consisting of kaolin clay, kerosene, Dutch soot and vegetable oil. Each layer was necessarily dried and sanded. Today, the traditional priming method is no longer used, but brown factory primer applied from a spray bottle is used instead. After drying, the primed tray is puttied and dried. The putty tray is then sanded by hand with pumice.
Only after this, black turpentine-based paint is applied to the tray, and after drying again, it is coated with 2-3 layers of black oil varnish. The dried and cleaned tray is handed over to the artist for painting.
How are colored backgrounds made on trays?
The Zhostovo decorative painting factory, in addition to trays with a traditional black background, produces products with red, blue, green and light blue backgrounds. To create them, a thin layer of light varnish is applied to the surface of the tray. Until it dries, sprinkle it with bronze or aluminum powder. After the metallized background has dried, it is painted with glaze paints of the desired color, resulting in an intense and saturated, but at the same time shimmering, as if translucent, background.
Painting on a colored background requires changes in both coloristic features and technical techniques. So, the highlights are only slightly defined, and the shadows are drawn out a little.
Zhostovo trays
Zhostovo craftsmen perform painting with special squirrel brushes and oil paints diluted with turpentine and linseed oil. Each artist works on several works at the same time. To create the ornament, white paint with varnish (gulfarba), sprinkled with aluminum powder, or the so-called created gold is used - gold powder diluted in turpentine or transparent varnish.
Zhostovo painting is performed in two stages: painting and straightening. At the painting stage, the artist uses a wide brush to draw the main silhouette of the composition on the working surface of the tray. To perform this, diluted (bleached) paints are used. Then the tray with the applied paint is dried for 12 hours in
After this, the master begins straightening and draws in light areas, applies colored shadows and paints highlights that add volume to the composition. The stamens of flowers and the veins of leaves appear as thin lines. Large elements of Zhostovo painting, such as large flowers, are associated with smaller stems, blades of grass and other parts of the composition. The very last thing to apply is the ornament on the sides.
The finished work is polished three times with colorless varnish and dried in ovens, after which the surface is manually polished to a mirror shine.
Main motives of painting
Most often, Zhostovo artists create simple flower arrangements in the form of bouquets, in which large garden and smaller wildflowers rhythmically alternate. As a rule, the basis of the composition is made up of several large flowers, such as a rose, aster, peony, dahlia or tulip, surrounded by a scattering of small flowers and buds and interconnected by thin stems, twigs and leaves. In addition to large garden flowers, some artists bring modest violets, lilies of the valley, bindweed or pansies to the foreground of the composition.
Bouquets of both garden and wildflowers can be complemented by images of fruits, berries, birds and butterflies. Sometimes painters depict only still lifes of fruits or bunches of berries, such as rowan, on trays.
In addition to flower arrangements, Zhostovo painting is also created, a photo of which you can see below. As a rule, she depicts scenes from life ordinary people, landscapes, landscapes, and horse triplets. By and large, Zhostovo painting (pictures are presented in the article) is truly a real art.
Expressive means of Zhostovo applied art
Initially, the compositions for the trays were borrowed from paintings, but each artist had his own interpretation of them. Today, masters implement compositions that have already become classic, but also strive to find new ones.
It should be noted that in each work of Zhostovo painting, the compositions are inscribed in a plane and related to the shape of the tray; they perfectly convey the conventional depth and volume of the painted objects. An important expressive means of Zhostovo art is the rhythmic and color balance of the drawing.
Is it possible to learn?
You can find out what Zhostovo painting is and how to paint using this technique in Zhostovo itself. The factory, whose products are famous all over the world, offers tours of the tray museum and master classes in lacquer painting. Almost every city has a travel agency offering excursions to the factory, where you can see how Zhostovo painting is done. A master class on it is also included in the program. You can organize a trip to Zhostovo on your own by first contacting the museum and checking its opening hours.
Zamalevok
Whitened paints outline the overall silhouette of the composition and the location of the main color spots. In the painting, the artist uses a wide brush to sketch the silhouette of the bouquet on the working surface of the tray. Zhostovo painting is carried out without preliminary drawing with dense, somewhat whitened paints simultaneously on several trays. The cursive style of writing allows Zhostovo masters to paint 5, 6 or more trays per day. When creating a bouquet, the artist rotates the tray on his knee, as if placing the desired area of its surface under the brush. In this case, you need to monitor the beauty and expressiveness of the silhouette of flowers, buds, leaves and stems, the rhythmic arrangement of colorful spots, and the ratio of the scale of painting of the form and the background of the tray. The painting is dried for 3-4 days in free air or for several hours in a drying cabinet, after which it is covered with light varnish and cleaned for the second stage of writing.
Tenezhka
Shadows are applied to the dried painting using glaze paints. This technique plunges the bouquet into the depth of tone. Glaze paints are applied with strong, rich strokes with a wide flat brush: blue (Prussian blue or ultramarine), green (emerald green) and red (kraplak). The shade is designed to enhance the sound of color and emphasize shady places in flower forms.
Pad
Dense corpus letter. The shapes of the bouquet are refined and highlighted using dense colors. Using bright, dense colors, the artist reveals (lays out) the volumes of flowers and leaves.
Glare
The overlay of highlights reveals volume and light and completes the sculpting of forms. Complements the gasket with bleached trimmings of flowers, buds and leaves.
Drawing
This technique quickly and easily outlines petals and leaves, and seeds in flower cups. Completes the cutting of the main forms of the bouquet with thin, musical lines, drawing the outlines of the petals and veins of the leaves. The artist depicts stamens and pistils in flower cups, which is called planting seeds.
Binding
Final letter. A grass pattern written with green or brown paint in the gaps between flowers and leaves. Zhostovo bouquets are characterized by bright colors: blue, red, green, yellow, white, orange, the sonority of which is especially emphasized by the black lacquer background.
Ornament
Painting with gold paint on the side of the tray. The sides of the trays are decorated with light, openwork patterns. The ornament is made with a squirrel brush and light varnish.
Trays are made from ordinary sheet iron. Forged products are primed, puttied, sanded and varnished, which makes their surface impeccably smooth, then painted with oil paints and covered with several layers of transparent colorless varnish. The most important operation that requires true creativity is painting. The subjects of painting are floral and plant ornaments and everyday scenes from folk life, landscapes, scenes of folk festivals, weddings and tea parties. The most common type of Zhostovo painting is a bouquet located in the center of the tray and framed along the side with a small golden pattern. In this construction one can see a certain reflection of the composition of an easel still life of the 19th century, enclosed in a gilded frame. But the motif itself received a more decorative and conventional interpretation than in easel paintings. It becomes part of a decorative item; special techniques allowed the craftsmen to organically fit it, as if “fusing” it into the varnished surface of the tray. The bouquet turned into an elegant group of flowers, laid loosely on a shiny lacquer background. Three or four large flowers (rose, tulip, dahlia, and sometimes more modest pansies, bindweed, etc.) were surrounded by a scattering of smaller flowers and buds, interconnected by flexible stems and light “grass,” that is, small twigs and leaves. The image seemed to be born from the shimmering depths, dissolving in it with transparent shadows and flashing with bright bouquets on the surface. The flowers, slightly “recessed” into the background, seemed light, semi-voluminous; these tactful angles and turns of the corollas did not visually break through the plane of the object.
Zhostovo painting and its writing technique, as well as the painting of each tray itself, is original and unique, because it is performed without any samples. Behind the captivating lightness and unconstrained artistry of writing lies enormous skill, developed by generations of talented, formerly unknown peasant artists. Zhostovo artists paint with oil paints and soft squirrel brushes. While working, the artist holds the tray on his knee and turns it when necessary. And the hand with the brush rests on a wooden plank lying across the tray. The artist first only outlines the future painting, paints freely with quick and precise strokes. And even repeating the drawing, the master improvises and adds something new. Zhostovo painting begins with “painting”; using whitened paints, the general silhouette of the image and the location of the main spots are outlined. The painted trays are dried in ovens for several hours. Using the following techniques, “shading” and “laying”, the shapes of flowers and leaves are built; First, transparent shadows are applied, then the light areas of the painting are “painted” with dense bright colors. This is followed by “highlighting”, that is, applying whitening strokes that clarify all the volumes. The painting is completed with elegant graphics of “drawings” and “bindings”. The elastic lines of the “drawing” easily run along the contours of the petals and leaves, expressively emphasizing their rich painting by contrast. Small branches, not accidentally called “pegs,” soften the transition to the background. Each master uses these traditional techniques that have developed in the craft in his own way, creatively playing with the decorative possibilities of brush writing (for example, “highlight” can softly “fuse” with the “lining”, or can clearly stand out on it). As a result, endless variations of similar motifs and images appear, but literal copies or repetitions are never seen among them. So each tray is a unique work of art. Sometimes painting, also known as Zhostovo painting, glows with a special flickering light. This master used mother-of-pearl fragments in the painting, placing them directly on the tray. The means of art in Zhostovo are clearly expressive. It has its own artistic system, painting techniques and original style, formed from a fusion of ornamental folk paintings and realistic still life painting mastered by folk masters.
Zhostovo’s art is based on writing techniques developed over generations, without which his artistic mastery would have been impossible. It is born in the very process of a kind of painting-painting, combining strict consistency and precision of craft techniques with improvisational creativity.
The charm of Zhostovo art lies in the sincerity, spontaneity of its content and means of expression. It is democratic in all its manifestations; its perception does not require special knowledge or training. Garden and wildflowers - both real and those born from the artist’s imagination, collected in bouquets and spread out in wreaths and garlands - this theme finds a lively response in every person and awakens a sense of beauty.
