My hand painted dining table: gouache and shellac in an old painting style on wood: hkohkloma

Hi Steemians, I finished my dining table project where I painted an old wooden table with gouache colors in a russian traditional art style called hkohkloma. The finish was done with shellac.

STEPS:

• I decided on which pattern I am going to use for my table and sketched it on a piece of paper. When I was happy with the result, I started to apply the pattern to the upper front of the table which surface was grinded until the old paint was removed and I got a very smooth surface to paint on.

• After the pattern was applied on the surface freehand with a pencil, I painted the design with gouache colors. This type of colors is very traditional and very natural to paint on wood. I loved how the colors appeared on the surface.

• To make the design look more alive I applied little dots with a pen covered in fabric on my raspberries.

• Because the gold layer is very traditional to this kind of folk painting on wood, I have applied golden color on the leaves. I let the gouache dry for about three days, just to make sure it was all dry before going on with the final step.

• The last step was the sealing with shellac. Therefore I took a piece of smooth and natural fabric, made a dot out of it and started to apply the shellac with round movements.

• After the first layer of shellac is dry (in about 1 hour) you can go on with the second. The recommendation is to apply 7 layers to make the table shiny and perfectly even.

It was so much fun - a deep meditation for me :) Let me know if you have any questions. I will be happy to assist you on our project.

I really enjoyed the art process and now we are even more happy to host dinners with family and friends on it.