Video - Traditional gilding (halkar) using rose water - exploring the use of natural fragrance in art

In this short video I show you how I created a real golden rose using 23.5k shell gold paint. The technique is an ancient technique that was used a lot in manuscripts centuries ago. Traditionally, this technique is referred to as halkar, tezhip or in English illumination/gilding with shell gold. The paper was first stained using genuine carmine (cochenille) paint left-over from paintmaking, and on top of that I used mother-of-pearl pigment, pigments which are both encountered in traditional art. The gold was then applied using rose water, exploring the use of natural fragrance in traditional art. The rubbing of the gold that you see at the end of the clip is called 'burnishing' and is done with very smooth agate stone or agate burnisher. This makes the gold really shine and adds a lot of lustre., .This video shows an approach to art working towards circularity in art materials as well as a natural, non-toxic and eco-friendly way of working, while keeping within tradition.

本短片将展示我如何使用23.5k贝壳金漆（shell gold paint）制作一支真实的金玫瑰。该技法为古老技艺，数个世纪以来曾大量应用于手抄本制作中。传统上，该技法被称为halkar、tezhip，英文中则称作贝壳金箔装饰（illumination/gilding with shell gold）。作画用纸首先采用制漆工序剩余的纯正胭脂红（carmine, cochenille）漆进行染色，随后我又在其上施用珍珠母颜料（mother-of-pearl pigment），二者均为传统艺术中的常用颜料。随后我以玫瑰水作为媒介施涂金漆，以此探索传统艺术中天然香料的应用方式。片尾画面中你所见的金箔打磨工序被称为‘擦亮（burnishing）’，需使用极为光滑的玛瑙石或玛瑙擦具完成。该步骤可使金箔尽显光泽，大幅提升其质感与光泽度。本视频展示了一种兼顾艺术材料循环利用的创作路径，同时秉持传统技法，采用天然、无毒且环保的创作方式。