Adding gold leaf to paintings is much like including writing: it can be easily overdone, turning an extra decorative effect into the main impression and thus ruining the work. It naturally presents the advantage of its high associations, probably started from the gilded icons and religious works of art of the medieval period, adding symbolic value if nothing else (as the actual foil is rather inexpensive).
I have tried out some new ways of applying gold foil. The first idea was to create a king of network to unify the composition, but it proved too much and a bit too Baroque (as all associations of white and gold in my mind :) The overall impression of the collage (lino prints, acrylic painting) is of too many elements in too small a space.
These first two works are inspired by the medievalish architecture of Transylvania, namely the Mathias Corvinus House in Cluj-Napoca (above) and the old city tower and typical eyed roofs of Sibiu (below).
The second attempt envisages the use of gold foil lines against a dark background. The abstract composition is not so much according to my style, but the desired effect is interesting: the small detail of gold leaf drawing, continuing the small row of linoprinted houses, the continuation of the arch in the center of the painting, even the signature might not be that bad. I've decided to name this third work "The Alchemist's Midnight Dance", though it is just made using elements from previous projects: alchemical symbols, the Happy Houses, and an older lino scene with the Virgin's Presentation to the Temple [read about this iconographic type HERE].
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