Types of decorative paintings in Russian folk life. Russian folk painting: types, techniques, patterns and ornaments Artistic painting

Wooden decorative dishes came into use later than clay ones. Cups, bowls, scoops with strangely curved handles imitating the necks of birds, painted spoons, containers for storing berries, chests, boxes and other wooden household items in the Russian hut had ornaments, drawings or carvings. For each county or province there are characteristic features of the drawings that distinguish them from many others. Wood painting can be schematically divided into two main categories - floral ornaments and popular prints (landscapes and scenes of folk life).

Wood painting can be schematically divided into two main categories - floral patterns and popular prints.

Without further ado, the masters named the painting after the name of the city near which this style originated. The main colors of painting in Russian villages were black, red, and yellow. They are characteristic of ornamental techniques that appeared earlier than those that use more primary colors and their shades.

Features of Mezen painting

Mezen painting is characterized by images of deer and horses. They are drawn carefully, and the image of a person is drawn purely schematically. Each sign of the pattern has its own interpretation in this painting. To correctly draw a product drawing, you need to know what this or that image means. Not all of them can be organically combined in one picture.

Mezen painting is characterized by images of deer and horses

1. The movement of the sun across the sky is represented by red horses.
2. Heavenly mothers giving birth to everything on earth were depicted as deer.
3. Swans, ducks, geese symbolize the souls of deceased relatives, protecting and warning family members from evil, helping in difficult moments.
4. Christmas trees are a symbol of male power.
5. The tree of life was depicted with roots and spirals going into the underworld. By counting the diamonds on the trunk, you can judge how many clans a family unites. The top of the family tree is crowned with a sign of heavenly peace.

This painting originated before the baptism of Rus', which is clearly traceable to pagan symbolism. Spinning wheels and sketches with Mezen multi-layer painting can be seen in local history museums.

Gallery: wood painting (25 photos)

Severodvinsk painting: its features

Severodvinsk painting can be called international. Over time, its northern roots were mixed with motifs introduced by Old Believers, Poles, merchants and peasants seeking a better life from other regions who migrated to the north.

Severodvinsk painting can be called international

Severodvinsk painting can be recognized, despite the use of red, yellow and black colors in the design, by the following characteristic features:

• The tree of life, reminiscent of a strange flower, where two doves sit on the hemisphere crowning it. A gift made of wood with this motif was presented to newlyweds on their wedding day. This tree had one more leaf than the parents of the newly-made spouse.
• The drawings may contain mythical creatures - the Sirin bird, mermaids, griffins.
• Among the animals, Severodvinsk residents depicted a lion and a bear.
• The drawing is divided into three parts. In accordance with ideas about the structure of the world, it was divided into images of the underworld, earth, and celestial spheres.

In many respects, Severodvinsk painting is similar to Permogorsk, Rakul, and Boretsk painting.

Painting without religious overtones

Matryoshka dolls and wooden utensils are often decorated in the style of Polkhova-Maidan painting. It involves applying a simple floral design to wood. In this painting there are no specific rules in the combination of colors. The only thing that is required is to get a bright, joy-giving toy.

Suitable for decorating wooden 3D blocks and flat surfaces.

Petrichov painting consists of leaves, petals, and berries. This type of folk craft pleases with the brightness of its colors.

Elements of Polkhov painting are similar in application technique to Khokhloma painting. But there are no strict rules in the selection of colors and design elements in this artistic craft.

Khokhloma painting follows the generally accepted rules of Russian folk crafts - yellow, black, and red colors are used. One of them is the background for the pattern, applied in stages with the other two colors.

Khokhloma painting is a classic. It uses only three colors, one of which is the background of the picture. This can be any of the colors used in Russian traditional painting. They are all contrasting to each other, which allows you to paint and create a 3D effect with the least effort. There are no halftones in this painting, only bright saturated colors.

Using the same brushstroke technique, with varying degrees of pressing the brush to the surface to be painted, you can recreate Gzhel painting. This type of painting differs from Khokhloma and Petrikovskaya in that the blue design is applied to a white surface. Perhaps, for a beginner, choosing one of these three paintings to start his creative journey is the easiest.

How to do dot painting of a box (video)

Paints for classical painting on wood

Classic painted boards, boxes, and household items, when properly selected and processed, do not change color when exposed to sunlight or water. Since ancient times, craftsmen have used tempera paint in their work. The most ancient recipe for making paint is also used by modern professional wood painters. The peculiarity of the composition is that the dye is ground on egg yolk. This component is the basis.

Since ancient times, craftsmen have used tempera paint in their work.

For some time in production they tried to replace tempera with easier-to-use and cheaper oil paints. This experiment was quickly abandoned due to characteristics such as color change when exposed to the sun. The radical black color, which should be a charcoal shade, changed under the influence of ultraviolet light. It acquired a green and sometimes yellow tone. Light colors, on the contrary, darken. The second disadvantage of oil dyes is their ability to crack and peel. Tempera has returned to folk art again.

Types of tempera paint

Characteristics of high-quality tempera:

• When working, it easily dissolves in water;
• It is homogeneous;
• Gives 100% coverage (pattern is not transparent);
• After drying, it is not possible to wash it off with water;
• The frozen layer does not crack, unlike oil and watercolor paints;
• When stored in a closed container, mold will not appear on it, it will not thicken and will not separate.

The composition of tempera is very simple, there are only two ingredients - an emulsion (base) and a dye. The process of making paint is quite labor-intensive. Tempera is made by hand; the base is laid out on a granite or marble surface, where it is combined with pigment. The dry color is rubbed into the adhesive or egg base with a chime - a crystal pestle. The process continues until the dye becomes uniform in color and texture.

Attention! Instead of a crystal chime, you can use a similar item made from hardwood or stone. It is contraindicated for paint ingredients to interact with metals.

Ready-made tempera paints

The name of modern tempera is consonant with the base on which it is made:

• Egg-based – industrially produced paint uses an artificial emulsion. It consists of an egg, vegetable oil, oil-based varnish or turpentine.
• Casein paint is made from a complex protein extracted primarily from animal milk. Casein emulsion contains oil and resins. The quality of this tempera is higher than that of egg tempera.
• Gum arabic is named for one type of adhesive base used in the manufacture of color-rich paint. This ingredient can be replaced with glue made from the resins of other fruit trees. In our latitudes, cherry glue is more often used.

Reference: Dextrin, a polysaccharide made from potato starch, is an intermediate stage between starch and glucose. Gum arabic means gum arabic, which is an air-hardened resin from acacia trees. Extracted from plants of southern latitudes.

The name of modern tempera is consonant with the base on which it is made

Artificial paint emulsions for beginning artists are divided into three main categories: PVA, wax-oil, and acrylic.

Which acrylic paints are best to choose for painting on wood?

It is better to apply acrylic paint to damp wood using the “Impasto” technique if you need to paint a large element of the design. But with undiluted acrylic it is difficult to make curls and elongated leaves in one touch, as required by folk craft. The effect of lightness and airiness of the floral motif depends on the degree of contact of the brush on different parts of the surface to be painted.

The matte emulsion serves as the base of the paint; pigments give it color. To paint drawings in a folk style, you will need acrylic with a high coating density. When dry, it should not become transparent. It follows from this that specialized paint is not suitable for applying designs to glass. As well as paint for puff pastry and painting on a fabric base. The only correct choice is to purchase paint for painting on wood.

How long does it take for a painting to dry?

The paint that is used to create the main background has the longest drying time. This is explained by the fact that it must create a perfectly even tone, that is, it is applied in a thicker layer than the drawing itself. It will take no more than an hour for the acrylic base applied to a surface moistened with water to dry. Approximately the same amount of time is required when applying tempera.

Small elements applied in a thin layer will dry almost instantly, more thorough strokes within 15-20 minutes. But this does not apply to paint that had to be diluted with water. The peculiarity of acrylic is that water makes the paint dry much faster.

It is necessary to work very quickly with acrylic that has come into contact with water. The more water used to thin the paint, the faster it will dry.

How to paint a wooden blank for a cutting board: a master class for beginners

Preparing the board involves soaking it in potato starch. It will hide all small defects of the board and provide a thin primer layer. This process can be simplified by covering the board with drying oil. When choosing northern motifs as an ornament, in which the tone is not used, you can use a light-colored stain as a primer.

You can paint a wooden block with gouache. This technique is also available for children.

1. Taking a sheet of drawing paper and selecting an area on it that corresponds in size to the one that needs to be covered with a design on the wood, you need to mark out the areas of the largest decorative elements. Outlining their location, as shown in the figure.
2. At the second stage, the image is detailed - drawing the contours.
3. Using transfer paper, the image is transferred to a prepared, low-fat board soaked in potato starch.
4. To prevent different colors from mixing, you can take a burning device and make small indentations along the contours. This outline will prevent the paint from mixing. When working with decorative acrylic paints, you can replace the burning process by applying the outline and thin elements directly through the thin tube dispenser.
5. After the outline that rises above the surface has dried, it must be filled with color.
6. The final stage of work will be coating the painted board with varnish. It is applied in 2-3 stages. Each subsequent layer rests on the thoroughly dried previous one.

Attention! The second coat of varnish will take twice as long to dry as the first, as it will dissolve the previously applied coating. The result is a monolithic, very durable varnish layer.

Simple patterns for beginners

Wood painting does not tolerate small details and winding lines. The uneven edges of the elements are reproduced by strokes with a semi-dry brush on a moistened surface.

The simplest, but quite impressive are drawings of rowan bunches, flowers with simple leaf shapes.

Wood painting does not tolerate small details and winding lines

The simplest petals to draw will gain volume when they are darkened in the middle. To do this, just make a few ray strokes. Berries are generally easy to draw. The three-dimensionality of the rowan bunches is given by the black dots of the ovary, randomly located on the image of the berries. When creating the center of a flower, this technique makes the design “convex.”

Small flowers are also simply drawn; they are schematically composed of approximately equal points. Small elements are placed on top of large ones, this gives volume to the picture. The symmetry of their location is not important. More attention needs to be paid to the distance between parallel long leaves.

April 30, 2014

Artistic painting as a type of decorative and applied art continues the traditions of folk art. This is not just a certain visual series, its essence is much greater, because it seems to float outside of time, uniting the work of dozens of generations of masters. It is organically connected with the Motherland - at the place of its origin in the community of peasants (cattle breeders, farmers, hunters).

Art critics' views on artistic painting

Artistic painting is applied to products made from easily obtained traditional natural “democratic” materials: natural fabrics, wood, clay, leather, stone, bone.

Until the 17th century, its sprouts existed within individual subsistence peasant farms. Skills were passed on by masters along the family line, from generation to generation. Specific artistic techniques were honed to allow for optimal presentation of products. The most expressive and meaningful methods of applying the ornament were chosen. Painting in architecture decorated the ceiling, walls, vaults, beams and pillars, and in everyday life - dishes and objects of labor.

In the period from the 17th to the 18th centuries, artistic painting in Russia was already being transformed into a craft that created goods for the market. It is not individual masters who are beginning to engage in it, but individual localities and villages. In the 19th century, an artel organization of the art of painting took place. For example, the masters of Fedoskino miniatures organized themselves in this way after the ruin of private owners in 1903 and preserved their art. In 1876, Professor A.A. Isaev began systematizing various types of painting. in the two-volume monograph “Fires of the Moscow Province”.

In the 20-30s of Soviet power, the emphasis was placed on the creation of cooperative fishing artels in places where centers of folk art had historically developed, developing original types of painting. For example, Khokhloma painting in the Nizhny Novgorod region.

The strategy for the development of painting, like other types of decorative and applied art, was conceptualized and outlined by the scientist and teacher Vasily Sergeevich Voronov in the monograph “On Peasant Art.”

Currently, artistic painting enterprises are actively developing types of painting in order to meet demand both in the Russian market and abroad. Painted products, while maintaining their everyday function, are increasingly acquiring features of aesthetic and artistic value. For their production, modern machines and special equipment are used for roughing and preparatory work. The main creative work, like several centuries ago, is done manually by master artists.

Painting as art

It is impossible not to note that national painting changes the very image of the product. It becomes more expressive at the level of color scheme, rhythm of lines and proportionality. Industrial “de-souled” goods become warm and alive through the efforts of artists. The latter is achieved by applying ornaments and elements of fine art (graphics and painting). Various types of painting create a special positive emotional background, in tune with the locality of the fishing industry.

Formally speaking, artistic painting is performed by applying paints to a specific surface with a brush. An important point should be noted: unlike painting, which models an integral space, painting is always fragmentary.

Design specialists often talk about the phenomenon of Russian painting: it universally harmonizes with almost any style: minimalism, modern, country. The techniques created by ancient masters were honed by many generations of craftsmen in certain areas, creating a special stylistic expressiveness. Fortunately, in Russia of the 21st century, various types of painting have been preserved and are developing: Gzhel, Khokhloma, Boretskaya, Gorodets, Mezenskaya, Onega, Permogorskaya, Pizhemskaya, Polkhovsko-Paidanskaya, Puchuzhskaya, Rakulskaya. Let's consider the features of these original styles.

The emergence of Khokhloma

The ability to paint wood in golden color without using, in fact, gold was passed on to Khokhloma masters from schismatic icon painters, who discovered this know-how back in the 12th century in the secret wilderness of the forests of the Volga region. By the way, they were familiar with the crafts that provide painting: turning and the art of ancient ornament. Perhaps they were also familiar with ancient types of painting,

Khokhloma, a large trading village in the Nizhny Novgorod region of the Volga region, attracted skilled craftsmen like a magnet.

This, in modern terms, regional fair for a group of villages along the banks of the Uzola River worked not only for the Russian domestic market. Wealthy merchants bought large quantities of popular goods on it and transported them for export. Thus, the Khokhloma market was “under the radar” of both domestic and foreign markets, which means that quality competition prevailed over price competition. A real incentive was created: the skill of a skilled person brought him tangible wealth.

According to research by specialists, in the period from the 12th to the 17th centuries, the Khokhloma style evolved, into which ancient Nizhny Novgorod types of wood painting were integrated.

In the period from the 17th to the 18th centuries, the Khokhloma style mainly took shape. In our time, its foci are:

Factory "Khokhloma Artist", which employs craftsmen from the villages of the Koverninsky district (Semino and others). Their paintings are dominated by wild flowers and wild berries;

Association "Khokhloma Painting", Semenov. Masters of association traditionally develop the theme of fantastic flowers.

Khokhloma technology

The monastic skill of the “fine brush” found application in the richest floral designs. The quality of the products played a big role. The art of Khokhloma presupposed the masters' adherence to a certain technology. It is characteristic that it has not changed to this day. Let us list its stages in order:

Turning a wooden piece of tableware (“linen”) on a lathe;

Priming the workpieces with a liquid solution of specially prepared clay (“shaft”). Nowadays, artificial primers are used for this purpose;

Tinning with tin or silver. Nowadays they use aluminum for this;

Artistic painting on wood and drying the product in an oven;

Varnishing and hot drying.

Intensive heat treatment of products determined the color scheme preferred by ancient Russian painters: a combination of gold and red cinnabar with black. Those. the temperature of Khokhloma stoves did not affect the brightness and contrast of such paints.

Methods of painting Khokhloma

Ancient types of wood painting, integrating into Khokhloma, determined its two systems: “background” and “mountain” writing. The name of the system itself contains a method for applying the main silhouette outlines.

The “top” system involves applying a colored silhouette outline directly to a golden background. The background one forms a golden “outline” directly from the background, by “sketching” the space surrounding the “golden curls” with black and red colors by the master.

Each of the systems uses the same types of Khokhloma painting. There are only four of them: “curl”, “under the berry” (or “under the leaf”); “under the gingerbread”; "under the background."

“Kudrina” suggests a “grass” pattern painted with a very thin brush. It somewhat resembles sedge, however, curled with intricate harmonious dynamic rings. According to experts, this is the most ancient ornament.

“Under the berry” - painted with a thicker brush. In addition to the “herbal base”, leaves and berries already appear here. The plant form is stylized and combined. On the same “stem” you can see both chamomile and strawberry leaves.

“Gingerbread” painting involves playing with a certain geometric shape (most often a rhombus). The figure is enlivened by “bushes” on the sides and illuminated by the sun in the middle.

With the “under the background” method, a plant outline is sequentially drawn, after which the remaining free background is painted over, mostly black.

Thanks to the uniqueness of each master’s brush, Khokhloma is unique and inimitable. The types of painting we discussed above alternate on it, pleasing the eye with the harmony of golden, red and black colors.

Gzhel. Finding clay for porcelain

Gzhel as an art of artistic painting was born on the territory of the modern Ramensky district of the Moscow region. In the old days, these places were called Gzhel volost, and the villages of Bokhteevo, Volodino, Gzhel, Kuzyaevo, Novokharitonovo, and Turygino were located in this area.

Until the 17th century, local peasants produced relatively primitive glazed pottery from clay. The situation changed thanks to the industrial development of local clays suitable for the production of porcelain. The starting point was the order of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich to discover “clays suitable” for the production of apothecary vessels - in 1663.

The experiment was a success; in 1710, the pharmacy order began to use local raw materials. Pharmacists praised the quality of the clays, and the moment came when industrialists became interested in them. They were interested in raw materials suitable for the production of porcelain. By decree of the tsar, a commission was created in 1844, which included the owner of a porcelain factory in Moscow, Afanasy Grebenshchikov, and the engineer of the Porcelinovo manufactory, Dmitry Ivanovich Vinogradov, who received a mining engineering education at the University of Marburg. We spent five years searching for the right clay. In 1849, after eight months of research, clays were extracted from which first-class porcelain was produced. M.V. Lomonosov himself, a fellow student of Vinogradov, spoke highly of their quality.

Gzhel. Production development

Industrialist Grebenshchikov began using the found raw materials at his Moscow plant. However, the smart people from the village of Gzhel and the villages surrounding it, by the way, as we mentioned, already had pottery skills, also realized the benefits of using higher quality clays.

Things went briskly, since excellent consultants lived in the villages - production workers from A. Grebenshchikov's plant. In the period from 1750 to 1820, artisans produced majolica - oblong jugs, plates, mugs, and dishes. Ornamental painting was done with green, yellow, blue and eggplant paint on a white background. The image included a bird in the center, and around it were trees, bushes, and houses. (i.e. demonstrated primitive types of tableware painting). The dishes were in demand. Quality competition has arisen. The leaders were former pottery factories, producing high-quality semi-faience identical to “foreign” dishes.

The skill has been honed over 80 years, and since 1820, almost all Gzhel craftsmen have been producing semi-faience. This is the heyday of Gzhel art. The products of the masters can also be seen in the Hermitage. This tableware began to be considered the best and most elegant in Russia. Characteristic painted Gzhel teapots, bowls, and plates filled the houses of merchants and nobles, and taverns. The types of painting are being improved. Gzhel is bought all over the country, from Arkhangelsk to Astrakhan, and exported to Central Asia and the Middle East. Products are produced by approximately thirty factories. The following manufacturers are engaged in the production of Gzhel: Barmins, Guslins, Gusyatnikovs, Kiselevs, Terekhovs, Sazonovs.

Unfortunately, starting from 1860, Gzhel painting began to decline. Folk art, born of the competition of hundreds of small producers and dozens of medium-sized ones, is being squeezed out by the pragmatism of large monopolies. Among the monopolists, M. S. Kuznetsov stood out, with his five factories and annual output of 2.1 million rubles. The production capacity of all the others was 14% of Kuznetsov's. As a matter of fact, it was the manufacturer Kuznetsov who “crushed” creativity. Competition has gone, motivation has decreased, quality has decreased, and decline has set in.

How artists paint Gzhel

Gzhel is unique in that each master, using classical types of artistic painting, creates his own individual technique.

This is a subtle art. The principal role belongs to the experience of the master, which is manifested in the way the brush moves. At the same time, on the snowy whiteness of the porcelain, a harmonious color change is obtained from intense blue to blurry blue. All this is painted with one single paint - cobalt. The pattern is applied to the surface “the first time,” quickly.

Why is the artist's skill important? Initially, the real colors of the drawing are not visible (a feature of cobalt). Everything depicted seems to be one color, and only when the Gzhel is fired in the kiln will the design appear in full.

What is the composition of Gzhel? The central role in it is usually played by a decorated flower. To the sides of it there is a harmoniously meandering “herbal” plot, enriched with leaves and berries. It happens that animalistic scenes or those related to everyday life (for example, at home) are woven into this drawing.

How do you actually get a drawing like this? Types of artistic painting for “painted the first time” Gzhel actually come down to methods of applying a stroke. There are only four of them: a shaded brush stroke, painting with one brush, a sitchik pattern, as well as complementary images.

The network shaded brushstroke is characterized by a wide color range due to the varying intensity of cobalt application through a special turn of the brush by the artist.

Painting with one brush is characterized by the fact that each subsequent stroke is different in tone from the previous one. At the same time, the intensity of the strokes gradually decreases, they “lighten”.

The sitchik pattern is the thinnest. It is drawn with only one end of the brush.

The types of painting pictures used by Gzhel are not characterized by photographic replication of natural motifs, but are reinterpreted and presented in an unexpected configuration. The reinterpreted blue leaves and petals of blue tulips, asters, carnations, and roses depicted by the artist follow the contours of birds or animals. Sometimes they outline stylized everyday objects or objects (for example, peasant huts).

Complementary images of the “grass” type - tendrils, spirals, shading elements, various strokes, geometric fragments - give the image completeness and create the necessary accents.

The emergence of Polkhov-Maidan painting

Russian folk painting is diverse. Its types in all their diversity, perhaps, can be described in a specialized monograph, but not in an article. Therefore, our task is more modest. We have already named the most “promoted” types of painting: Khokhloma and Gzhel. However, there are others, they are all original and there are quite a lot of them. Let's name a few: Boretskaya, Gorodetskaya, Mezenskaya, Onezhskaya, Permogorskaya, Pizhemskaya, Polkhovsko-Maidanskaya, Puchuzhskaya, Rakulskaya, etc. Without being able to talk in detail about all of them in this article, we will present a description of the only one of them - Polkhov-Maidan.

This painting originated at the beginning of the 20th century in the Voznesensky district of the Nizhny Novgorod region. Here in the villages of Polkhovsky Maidan and in the village of Voznesenskoye at the end of the 18th century there was a turning trade of the monks of the Sarov Monastery. Peasants also learned the craft of turning, becoming skilled craftsmen in the manufacture of wooden utensils. The craftsmen also made, as they called it, “tararushki”, i.e. items for fun: whistles, mushrooms, nesting dolls, Easter eggs, children’s toys.

The impetus for the creation of painting was the acquisition of a burning apparatus by the peasant Polin Pavel Nikitich, and since 1926, the awakened creativity of the peasants led them to painting products with oil paints, and since 1933 they were replaced by aniline paints.

After the creativity of the Polkhov residents was adopted by the Zagorsk, Merinov, and Semyonov residents, new types of painting of nesting dolls were created (we will touch on this topic later).

Technology of the Polkhov-Maidan style of painting

First, the surface of the wooden product was sanded and primed with starch paste. Then the outline of the drawing was drawn in ink, after which the painting was done. For this, paints of four colors were used: red, yellow, green and blue. Then the “pointing” was carried out, a characteristic artistic stage of the Polkhov-Maidan style, which consisted of outlining the outline of the drawing in black. Let us add that this type of painting involves a technique such as overlaying colors.

This type of art also uses a special technique of contourless painting.

We mentioned this type of painting for a reason. It flourished in the USSR until the 90s inclusive. Five thousand people worked at the Voznesensk factory. Of these, 40% are artists who carry out painting, the rest are turners. They approached work creatively, and there was a creative laboratory at the factory. Products were exported to the USA and European countries. Today, the traditions laid down by the factory are being developed by entrepreneurs.

Her Majesty Matryoshka

Russian painting did not always develop evolutionarily. Its views sometimes arose unexpectedly - not from “the depths of centuries.” They were generated by the insight of one creative Russian master. This is what happened with the nesting doll. It is not a native Russian invention.

The matryoshka appeared in Rus' in the 19th century in Sergiev Posad. The wife of the artist Sergei Vasilyevich Malyutin in 1898 brought from Japan a figurine of the old man Fukuruma, which contained four more figures (by the way, according to Japanese legend, the first such figurine was made by a Russian monk). Sergei Vasilievich rethought her idea “in Russian”. A brilliant idea arose - to model a typical Russian family. The name Matryona was then popular in Rus'. In addition, as Milyutin believed, it echoed the ancient Roman name for the mother of the family.

Sergei Vasilyevich made a drawing of a figurine with eight attachments. The woman was followed by her daughter with a black rooster, then by her son, then by a girl again, the eighth figure was a baby. Their shapes were carved from wood by turner V.P. Zvezdochkin. Sergei Vasilievich himself painted the figure.

Production of nesting dolls. Types of painting

The worldwide popularity of the nesting doll and its recognition by the world dates back to 1900, when it “went out into the world” - to the World Exhibition in Paris.

Could folk art pass by the nesting doll? Already in 1899, the entire Sergiev Posad was producing new charming dolls: girls and women, ruddy, in caftans and aprons or in scarves and sundresses, with baskets, pets, birds, flowers. The Zagorsk style (as you know, Sergiev Posad was renamed Zagorsk) was distinguished by its picturesqueness and attention to small details.

Since 1922, matryoshka dolls also began to be produced in the village of Merinov in the Nizhny Novgorod region. The local turner A.F. Mayorov, having bought a Sergievskaya matryoshka doll, turned “his own”. His daughter painted the figures. The Merinians quickly mastered the production of these complex figurines. The Merinovskaya nesting doll is emphatically bright, although with less detail than the Zagorsk one.

The third “deposit of nesting dolls” was the village of Polkhovsky Maidan, famous for its turners and painting. The Polkhovskaya nesting doll has its own characteristic features:

A face painted fleetingly, in small strokes;

The place of the outlines of the scarf and the lines of the sundress (skirt), from the back 2/3 of the matryoshka is painted scarlet (red) or green. The color of the scarf contrasts with it. A spruce rose flower is painted in the area of ​​the matryoshka’s forehead. The apron is marked - from the neck to the ground. The apron painting is grouped “along an oval”. In the middle there is a branch with an open rose, leaves, and berries. The composition is complemented by daisies and forget-me-nots.

The most difficult to make is considered the nesting doll from Vyatka, which local craftsmen inlay with straws.

Conclusion

Russian artistic painting as a type of decorative and applied art is based on a deep folk tradition, on people’s awareness of what the Motherland is, what a family is. It is connected with the centuries-old life of our ancestors, so painted products carry a charge of warmth, humanity, and a creative attitude to life. They really decorate the life of a modern person, they replace “impersonality” and introduce elements of decorating the living space.

Artistic painting also adds some accents to our lives, reminding us of continuity, the Motherland, and the universal human duty of every person to make life around us more beautiful.

The history of which dates back to the 2nd century BC. e., when people learned to make iron, and from it various knives, scrapers, saws and other cutting tools.

However, it was not enough to simply carve a product out of wood; a person wanted the result of his work to look beautiful. This is how ancient wood paintings appeared, primitive and far from artistic, but the birth of art took place. In those distant times, paints already existed; all that remained was to apply them properly.

Artistic painting on wood

The folk crafts that exist today for making household items are based on a variety of techniques. Wooden products are presented in several categories: first of all, dishes and kitchen utensils. The second list includes items that represent fine art. These are painted panels, interior decorations, and various household items. And finally, the third category is vintage-style wooden furniture, painted in a special antique way. Artistic painting on wood as such is used in all three cases. The value of the products is undoubted, since professionals work on them.

Varieties

Wood paintings come in several types and differ in their belonging to a particular region, as well as in style. The drawing can be plot or ornamental.

Types of painting on wood:

• Mezenskaya;
• Polkhovskaya;
• Khokhloma;
• Gorodets;
• Palekh;
• Severodvinskaya;
• Petrikovskaya

The main types of wood painting are listed. Each variety contains “branded” features that give the product additional attractiveness.

Mezen painting

Mezen painting (or as it is also called - palaschelskaya) is the painting of household items: ladles, boxes, spinning wheels, benches and kitchen tables. These artistic traditions appeared in the lower reaches of the Mezen River around 1815.

Mezen painting consists mainly of ornamented images of forest inhabitants: deer and elk, wolverines, foxes and bear cubs. All images are impersonal and bear the stamp of staticity. Friezes composed of repeatedly repeating figures painted in bright colors give the impression of festivity and defiant luxury, since the colorful stripes of ornaments do not fit in with the squalid furnishings of a Russian home. A primitive spinning wheel, painted in the Mezen style and sparkling with colors in a dark corner, only emphasized the desolation of the upper room.

Palekh

Palekh painting is a folk art craft that appeared in pre-Petrine times. At that time, the village of Palekh in the Ivanovo province was famous for its icon painters. This art reached its greatest flowering at the end of the 18th century. The Paleshans, in addition to painting icons, were involved in the restoration of cathedrals and churches, and took part in the design of the chapels of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and the Novodevichy Convent.

Until the beginning of the 20th century, the trade of Palekh painting flourished; the revolutionary storms of 1905 and 1917 almost destroyed the fine folk art. Since after the 17th year all the churches were abolished by ignorant representatives of the communist authorities, there was nothing to paint, and Poleshan artists created an artel producing artistic products made of wood.

Soon the first work in the palekh style was created in a Moscow workshop. On a wooden box covered with black varnish, Ivan Tsarevich, who emerged from the royal chambers into freedom, meets the Firebird. The whole picture was painted in gold and cinnabar - it was impossible to take your eyes off the drawing.

Currently, Palekh wood painting is a deeply traditional art, with the only difference being that natural wood has been replaced with papier-mâché. Now products with Palekh painting are not only beautiful, but also light.

Khokhloma

An ancient folk craft that developed in the villages of the Nizhny Novgorod province in the 17th century. The center became the village of Khokhloma, where Old Believers, persecuted for their faith, gathered. Among the settlers there were many icon painters who brought with them exquisite painting skills, calligraphic writing and many examples of floral patterns.

Local residents living in Khokhloma and nearby villages knew wood turning techniques, but did not know how to draw. So it turned out that the wooden dishes, turned on site, were painted by visiting artists. This is how the art of Khokhloma painting appeared, which turned into one of the most famous artistic crafts in Russia.

Wood carvers not only turned dishes and plates, they soon learned to carve spoons and ladles, the classic “brothers”. Usually the ladle was made in the shape of a swan, and a dozen scoops were hung on the sides. The material was linden wood, which by its nature has no fibers and is easily cut in all directions.

Khokhloma painting consists of four primary colors: black, gold, red and green. Black and gold are used as the background, and red and green, together with their shades, make up the actual design. The theme for a drawing in the Khokhloma style is most often rowan berries, strawberries, various flowers and herbal plants. Sometimes the artist uses images of birds, fish and small animals.

Carving and drawing

Russian folk crafts (such as gorodets or khokhloma) are wood products covered with a pattern. First, cabinetmakers make blanks from selected wood, the so-called “linen,” and then artists cover them with a design. Wood carving and painting are inseparable in this case - they complement each other. The most common type of painted blank is the Russian nesting doll. For its production, the turning method of carving is used, when the product is turned, polished and then painted. This souvenir is known all over the world and has been in high demand for many years.

Is it possible to learn wood painting?

Folk arts and crafts belong to the fine arts and require certain preparation, but anyone who has patience and perseverance can master the basic principles of coloring products. There are special techniques called “Wood Painting for Beginners,” which include familiarization with the process and practical work. Initially, the classes are general in nature, and after acquiring skills, you can move on to a specific artistic style, for example, Gorodets. In any case, painting on wood is a fascinating creative process for beginners.

Coloring methods

Natural wood is a material that requires careful pre-processing. The surface for painting must be smooth, without peeling or cracks. The workpiece is first sanded with emery cloth and then coated with a special primer, which fills all microscopic cracks and evens out small irregularities. Larger defects can be eliminated using putty. After pre-treatment, the workpiece must be thoroughly dried.

Wooden folk art products are distinguished by bright, intense colors. The designs usually contrast with the background, black or bright red. For painting products, tempera or artistic gouache paints are used, which have good hiding power. The most lasting results are obtained by acrylic painting on wood, especially if the design is covered with transparent nitro varnish on top. Products after this treatment become resistant to abrasion and do not change their color.

Wood painting (photos of finished products are presented on the page) is a type of fine art that has its roots in the distant past, but lives and flourishes in the present.

Everyone can easily name Khokhloma and Gzhel. But few people know that there are many more types of Russian folk painting. This article will describe the most famous decorating styles.

general information

Artistic painting is the art of decorating a surface using paints. In a short period of time, painting has become a part of a person’s daily life.

Russian folk painting styles were used to decorate various products. They painted both wood and ceramics, as well as metal. According to this criterion, they can be divided into three groups.

1. Base - wood. This type of art includes:

• Khokhloma.
• Fedoskino.
• Painting of the Northern Dvina.
• Prikamsk painting.
• Mezenskaya.
• Palekh.

2. Base - ceramics. This type of art includes:

• Gzhel.

3. The base is the metal that was used to make trays. This includes:

As you can see, Russian folk painting on wood is the most popular. And this is quite understandable.

The most famous types of Russian folk painting will be described below. Among them are Khokhloma, Gzhel, Zhostovo and Gorodets painting.

Khokhloma

Perhaps the most famous Russian folk painting is Khokhloma. The painting is unique in that, thanks to special treatment in ovens, the products do not deteriorate even from hot food. Thus, the wood acquires the properties of ceramics.

Story

This Russian folk style goes back to the 17th century in the village of the same name, which was located in the Nizhny Novgorod region. According to one version, the very idea of ​​Khokhloma craft was brought by Old Believers who were fleeing persecution for the “old faith.” Among these people there were many icon painters. By the beginning of the 18th century, this place became a real artistic treasure.

Currently, Khokhloma has “moved” to the village of Semino and the city of Semenov. They still do painting here, but on a factory scale.

Elements of Russian folk painting

Red, black and gold are the three main colors, with yellow and green used as additional colors and in small quantities. Brushes are made from squirrel tails. It is this material that makes it possible to draw a thin line.

Products can be painted in two ways. The first method is to first paint the background completely with black paint, and apply a drawing on top. The second method is to first draw the outline of the ornament, only after that the background is painted over.

If you carefully look at the various works done in the Khokhloma style, you can identify several main patterns:

• Sedges. For this pattern, you need to lightly drag the tip of the brush from top to bottom.
• Blades of grass. The element looks like a small brush stroke with a smooth thickening.
• Droplets.
• Mustache.
• Curls.
• Bush. It was drawn using combinations of sedges, blades of grass, droplets, tendrils and curls. Moreover, the elements were always located symmetrically to each other.
• Berries. Mostly they painted lingonberries, currants, rowan berries, strawberries or gooseberries.

Manufacturing technology

At the very beginning, a wooden base was created. For the most part, these were household items: spoons, bowls, and so on. This base was called “linen”. After drying, the base is covered with specially purified clay and left to dry for 7-8 hours. During the drying process, the product is coated several times with flaxseed oil.

The next step is called "tinning". Aluminum powder is rubbed into the product with a special swab made from sheep leather. After this procedure, the object acquires shine and is ready for painting.

Gzhel

An equally famous Russian folk painting is Gzhel, in which only all kinds of shades of blue on a white background are used to draw patterns.

Story

The name of Russian folk painting Gzhel comes from the Gzhel bush region. This is an association of more than 20 villages in the Moscow region. The first mention of this type of Russian folk painting was in the 14th century during the reign of Ivan Kalita. Initially, Gzhel was colored, but in the 19th century the fashion came for Dutch tiles and Chinese porcelain. The products were made in blue and white colors. Soon this became an integral feature of the Russian pattern.

Main stories

The central characters of almost all products made in the Gzhel style are birds, roosters or flowers. The masters of Russian pattern take their subjects from their environment. At the same time, the painting itself and the shape of the product do not contradict each other, but form a single whole, complementing each other.

Manufacturing technology

Before painting, the quality of the porcelain was checked. The product was dipped in magenta. Thus, the porcelain was painted pink, and the slightest cracks could be seen on it.

As a rule, craftsmen used cobalt-based paint. Before the product was fired, it was black. To work, the master needed only a brush and paint. But using various techniques, more than 20 shades of blue were created.

which was used to decorate metal trays. They exist to this day in the village of Zhostovo, which is located in the Moscow region.

Story

The history of Zhostovo painting begins at the beginning of the 19th century in a number of villages of the Trinity volost. The first masters of painting lacquerware made using the papier-mâché technique appeared here.

The emergence of the familiar is directly related to the Vishnyakov brothers. Thanks to their shop, the production of trays increased. The first things made of metal began to appear. They gradually replaced other papier-mâché crafts.

Main stories

In Zhostovo painting, the main characters of the works are flowers and floral patterns. Sometimes they depict scenes of everyday life, landscapes, scenes of festivities, weddings, and so on. But the most common is the image of a bouquet, which is located in the middle of a tray, along the edges of which there is a small gold pattern. Usually the bouquet contained several rather large flowers, surrounded by a scattering of smaller ones.

Technology

Trays were used for two purposes: for domestic use (as a stand for a samovar or for serving food) and as an element of the interior. The material for making the tray is ordinary sheet iron. The shape of the finished product can be any: round, rectangular, oval, etc. Before applying the pattern, the product goes through several important stages:

• Padding.
• Puttying.
• Grinding.
• Varnishing.

Thanks to this, the surface of the tray becomes perfectly flat. Oil paints are used for painting. At the end of the work, the product is coated with several layers of colorless varnish.

The painting itself was carried out in several stages:

• Stage 1. Background. At this stage, the main color is selected. It will be used as the background. Black was preferred, but white, red, blue, etc. could be used.
• Stage 2. Zamalenok. At this stage, the basis of the future pattern is made. Using diluted paint, the master applies the outlines of the future composition in accordance with his idea. After this, the trays are sent to dry in the oven for several hours.
• Stage 3. Tenezhka. At this stage, the artist, using translucent paints, applies shadows to the flowers. Thus making them voluminous.
• Stage 4. Gasket. This is the most critical stage. Now the master begins to clarify many details, highlight and implement a contrasting or more harmonious structure of his composition.
• Stage 5. Glare. At this stage, with the help of glare, light and more volume appear on the flower petals. Glare is needed to create mood and color.
• Stage 6. Drawing. This is the last stage of work on creating a bouquet. Using a very thin brush, the artist paints subtle veins on the leaves of the plant, a lacy edge on the leaves and seeds in the center of the flower.
• Stage 7. Binding. This stage is the penultimate stage in Zhostovo painting. The artist draws the thinnest stems, blades of grass and tendrils emanating from the bouquet itself. In this way, the master establishes a connection between the bouquet and the background.
• Stage 8. Cleaning. At this stage, the side of the tray is decorated. Typically a geometric or floral pattern is used for this purpose. The cleaning style depends on the desire of the master. It can be quite modest and consist of one repeating element, or it can be decorated richly and varied. If you skip this step, the product will look unfinished.

This way you can find endless variations of similar motifs. But you will never be able to find exact copies or repetitions.

Russian folk Gorodets painting has existed since the mid-19th century. Bright and unusual, it served as decoration for spinning wheels, furniture, shutters and doors.

Story

Hints of Gorodets painting can be seen in the carved spinning wheels. In Gorodets they were unique in that the bottom (the place where the spinner sat) was decorated using a special technique. Wooden figurines carved from a different species were inserted into the recesses. Only two types of wood allowed Gorodets craftsmen to create stunning works of art. Later, touch-up paint was added to this.

In the second half of the 19th century, the demand for such products increased, which prompted craftsmen to abandon wood inlay as a complex technique and move on to simple pictorial elements.

Main stories

Nizhny Novgorod painting is divided into two types: Pavlovsk and Gorodets. They were used to decorate chests, arches, sleighs, and so on.

Gorodets Russian folk painting is distinguished by its content. Here you can see a variety of scenes. For the most part these were domestic situations. At the same time, most of the plot was devoted to floral motifs. You can also find birds and animals as the main characters of the painting. They can be both stylized and realistic. As a rule, the images were symmetrical, with animals or birds looking at each other.

This painting is characterized by the use of underpainting circles, spirals, drops, arcs, staples, strokes and dots. In this case, the last types of patterns are applied by the artist at the final stage in order to “revive” his work.

There are not many colors used in painting: red, green, blue and black. Images are applied to wood without preliminary drawing. The patterns are applied directly with a brush, and the artist can use both wide and free strokes and the finest strokes.

Technology

To create a painting, tempera is used - a paint that is made from dry pigments in powder form. Moreover, it can be created both from natural materials and from their artificial analogues. Sometimes they use gouache and PVA glue. But you need to take into account that when drying the color becomes whitish. Therefore, before applying the next layer, allow the previous one to dry.

The painting is done immediately on a wooden base. If desired, it is primed with red, yellow or black paint. The future composition can be outlined with a thin line using a simple pencil. But artists with extensive experience, as a rule, skip this stage and immediately apply the pattern with a brush.

After the design has completely dried, the product is coated with transparent varnish in several layers, each of which is thoroughly dried. They use either an oil varnish, which is applied with a special swab, or a nitro varnish, which requires the help of a spray gun. This ensures the finished product is even and smooth. This coating is needed to protect the product from chemical or mechanical damage.

Russian folk painting today

Even in the 21st century, painting does not lose its relevance. Painted products are not just part of the interior. Many of them have a wide functional load and are actively used in everyday life. For example, cutting food on a decorated cutting board or storing bread in a bread bin, which is painted by a master of his craft, are still relevant.

Painted products will add their own flavor even to a modest room, making it unique. But you shouldn’t overload your apartment with such things, as many of them look very bright. Two or three will be enough.

Also, different types of Russian folk painting are actively used to decorate walls, columns, borders and other interior elements. Such a solution looks great in a children’s room or in the kitchen, as it will make the atmosphere brighter and more positive.