Khokhloma painting as a traditional art craft originated in the 17th century in the Nizhny Novgorod province and got its name from the large trading village of Khokhloma, where all wooden products were brought for auction.
To date, there are many versions of the origin of Khokhloma painting, here are the two most common:
First version
According to the most common version, the unique way of painting wooden dishes “under gold” in the forest Trans-Volga region and the very birth of the Khokhloma craft was attributed to the Old Believers.
Even in ancient times, among the inhabitants of local villages, securely sheltered in the wilderness of forests, there were many "Old Believers", that is, people who fled from persecution for the "old faith".
Among the Old Believers who moved to the Nizhny Novgorod land there were many icon painters, masters of book miniatures. They brought with them ancient icons and handwritten books with colorful headpieces, fine painting skills, free brush calligraphy and examples of the richest floral ornament.
In turn, local craftsmen excellently mastered turning skills, passed down from generation to generation the skills of making dishware molds, the art of three-dimensional carving. At the turn of the XVII-XVIII centuries, the forest Trans-Volga region became a real artistic treasury. The art of Khokhloma inherited from the Trans-Volga masters the "classical forms" of turning utensils, the plasticity of the carved forms of ladles, spoons, and from the icon painters - the pictorial culture, the skill of the "thin brush". And, no less important, the secret of making "golden" dishes without the use of gold.
Second version
But there are documents showing otherwise. A method of imitation of gilding on wood, related to Khokhloma, was used by Nizhny Novgorod artisans in coloring wooden utensils as early as 1640-1650, before the appearance of the Old Believers. 
In the large Nizhny Novgorod handicraft villages of Lyskovo and Murashkino, in the Trans-Volga "selishka Semenovskoye" (the future city of Semenov - one of the centers of Khokhloma painting), wooden utensils were made - brothers, ladles, dishes for the festive table - painted "for pewter", that is, using tin powder. 
The method of painting wooden utensils “for pewter”, probably preceding Khokhloma, developed from the experience of icon painters and local Volga traditions of utensil craft.
Khokhloma - decorative painting of wooden utensils. This type of artistic folk thought originated in the 17th century in villages near the trading village of Khokhloma in the Nizhny Novgorod region. In the 20th century, the village of Semino and the city of Semenov became the center of the craft, where the Khokhloma Painting and Semenovskaya Painting factories are still located.
A distinctive feature of the painting is a floral ornament made in black and red colors on a golden background. In order for the dishes to get a golden sheen, tin powder is applied to it, which, after firing in the oven, gives a honey-golden hue.
There are two types of Khokhloma painting: “horse”, when the background is first painted over, and the drawing remains on top, and “under the background”, when the outline of the ornament is outlined before coloring, and only then the background is filled with black paint.
Khokhloma painting is easily recognizable by its traditional elements: flowers, strawberries and mountain ash, and sometimes birds. The painting is done with a thin brush and applied only by hand, so the ornament never repeats. She decorates dishes, spoons, ladles and even some pieces of home furniture.
Now in the city of Semenov there is an art school that trains masters of Khokhloma painting. 
Khokhloma: crockery worthy of the royal table outside the window is autumn, and it's time to remember the wonderful, very autumn folk craft - Khokhloma painting, isn't it, looking at it, you can warm your soul .. I remember as a child in our house there were such spoons that were a little simpler - they gave it to me, with it the borscht was much tastier)))) the rest were for beauty. Khokhloma painting is a unique phenomenon in world culture. This style of painting wooden utensils is primordially Russian, nowhere else in the world is more unique!
Khokhloma painting originated in the Trans-Volga region, and got its name from one of the villages of the Nizhny Novgorod district - Khokhloma. In the second half of the 17th century, after church reforms, a lot of Old Believers sought refuge in these places. Among them were icon painters, thanks to whom Khokhloma painting appeared.
When painting icons, the following technology was used: to paint the background in gold, the masters used not gold, but cheaper silver powder. After painting, the icon was covered with linseed oil and baked in an oven, as a result of which the background became golden. This is such alchemy! Masters began to use a similar technology in Khokhloma painting, only instead of silver they took tin powder (and now - aluminum), but the result is the same - the product became sunny gold. Truly, dishes worthy of the royal table, but accessible to ordinary people!
The main colors used in Khokhloma painting are gold, black and red. Sometimes these colors are complemented by green, brown, orange, yellow. The motifs used in painting are mostly natural: these are herbs, flowers, berries. There are several varieties of horse painting, the so-called “grass painting” is the simplest of Khokhloma:
And this is the painting “under the leaf”, “under the berry”: 
Here is such a horse painting called "Gingerbread" or "Ryzhik" and symbolizes the sun: 
The background painting is performed as follows: the master draws the contours of the composition in black or red, and then paints over the background and draws the details with strokes. This is very hard work! The background painting includes a type of composition called “kudrina” - fancy patterned leaves, flowers and fruits: 
There is also a green Khokhloma. They make such a painting at the Khokhloma Painting enterprise in the city of Semenov, Nizhny Novgorod Region. 
They say that once Lyudmila Zykina came to this enterprise and asked to do something for herself with her favorite flowers - lilies of the valley. She was not refused her request, and then they launched this version of the painting into mass production. And what a wonderful pattern! Thanks to Lyudmila Georgievna Zykina for inspiring the masters to create a new Khokhloma standard. It is very pleasant and joyful that such an ancient and unique folk craft not only flourishes to this day, but also develops harmoniously. 
And, here is such a masterpiece of modern Khokhloma 
In the 19th century, Khokhloma dishes could be found not only in Russia, but also in Persia, India, Central Asia, the USA and Australia. And in our time, Khokhloma dishes have become even more widespread. 
From the mid-1960s to the present, the Khokhloma Painting enterprise has been the largest manufacturer of artistic wood products with Khokhloma painting, and the city of Semyonov is rightfully considered the capital of the golden Khokhloma. 
The original technology of gilding wooden products, worked out for centuries, which came from icon painting, has survived almost unchanged to this day. 
First, turning utensils ready for further processing are turned from dried linden wood: bowls and barrels, coasters and vases, spoons and ladles are cut out. 
Then they are dried and covered with a special red-brown primer, which makes them all look like clay. Then they are impregnated with boiled linseed oil (linseed oil) and rubbed with aluminum powder. They become dull-shiny, resembling silver ones, and in this form they enter the painting workshops. Painted products are varnished two or three times and hardened in an oven at a temperature of 120–130 degrees. The resulting lacquer film gives the silvery surface a golden sheen. Thus the tree turns into "gold". 
Thanks to a special varnishing and high-temperature processing, the products are practical and safe to use. You can drink and eat from Khokhloma dishes, and it does not lose its appearance from cold and hot dishes, as well as salty and sour foods. 
All products of CJSC "Khokhloma painting" are certified and protected by the internationally registered trademark "Semenov. Khokhloma painting. 
Products with Khokhloma painting are a visiting card not only of the Nizhny Novgorod region, but of the whole country as a whole. 
The Semyonov matryoshka, produced at the Khokhloma Painting enterprise, for many people in the world embodies the symbol of Russia. 
Khokhloma products are supplied to the domestic Russian market from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok, as well as to many countries of the world, where high interest in them has not faded for many centuries. 
The assortment of the enterprise includes more than 1800 items of utilitarian and decorative items - these are sets for fish soup, desserts, sets (about 100 types, some up to 180 items), carved ladles, bratinas, candlesticks, vases, supplies, bochata, shtofs, panels, music boxes, spoons and painted furniture. 
In addition to the main assortment, the company prepared a souvenir produced for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. 
As well as a nesting doll with the symbol of the Winter Olympics in Sochi. 
The enterprise includes large workshops: the first and second art workshops, carpentry, drying and procurement, experimental, pressing, transport, packaging, as well as a warehouse for materials and a workshop for completing finished products. 
Work at the Khokhloma painting enterprise in the Nizhny Novgorod region. 
Khokhloma painting
(Khokhloma)
Khokhloma painting originated in the 17th century in the depths of the once impenetrable forests of the Trans-Volga region, along the banks of the Uzola River, which flows into the Volga near the ancient Gorodets, in the villages of Khokhloma (hence the name of the painting), Big and Small Bezdel, Mokushino, Shabashi, Glibino and Khryashchi. There was a large fair in Khokhloma, where craftsmen from the surrounding villages and villages have long brought their products for sale and from where they dispersed not only throughout Russia, but also beyond its borders.
The technique of painting wood in gold without the use of gold was known to Russian icon painters as early as the 12th century. She penetrated into the Trans-Volga region with icon painters - "schismatics" who sought refuge in the forests of the Trans-Volga region, and their associates - craftsmen who owned turning and knew the drawings of the most ancient ornament. Thus, the art of Khokhloma was formed as a precious fusion of traditions developed in folk crafts and brought by masters of ancient painting.
From folk crafts, Khokhloma inherited the classical forms of wooden turning utensils and compositions of geometric ornament, clear in rhythm, based on a subtle understanding of the plasticity of things. Icon painters brought to Khokhloma the skill of the “thin brush” - calligraphic skills of free writing and drawing of the richest floral ornament, characteristic of decorative painting of the 17th-18th centuries. In the ornament of this time, one can see those types of plant patterns that later received a new life in the art of painting Khokhloma wooden utensils.
On the basis of the Russian floral ornament of the 17th-18th centuries, the varieties of painting characteristic of Khokhloma were formed, which have survived to this day.
Probably, in the same period, the masters of Khokhloma used for the first time in the Volga region when painting wooden utensils, techniques that made it possible to obtain a golden sheen without gold.
Currently, the village of Kovernino in the Nizhny Novgorod region is considered the birthplace of Khokhloma, where from the 18th century to the beginning of the 20th they traded painted wooden utensils made in villages and villages. Khokhloma painting is characterized by gold, black, red, green, sometimes brown and orange colors.
The secret of the “gold” of Khokhloma is the use of an aluminum (silver or tin) coating. It is this metallized layer, combined with a varnish coating and heated to a high temperature, that subsequently gives a golden effect.
The production of Khokhloma utensils was held back for a long time by the high cost of imported tin. Only a very wealthy customer could provide the craftsmen with tin. In the Trans-Volga region, monasteries turned out to be such customers. So, the villages of Khokhloma, Skorobogatovo and about 80 villages along the rivers Uzola and Kerzhents worked for the Trinity-Sergius Monastery.
From the documents of the monastery it is clear that the peasants of these villages were called to work in the workshops of the Lavra, where they could get acquainted with the production of festive bowls and ladles. It is no coincidence that it was Khokhloma and Skorobogatov villages and villages that became the birthplace of the original painting of dishes, so similar to precious ones.
The abundance of forests, the proximity of the Volga - the main trade artery of the Trans-Volga region - also contributed to the development of fishing: loaded with "wood chips" goods. The ships were heading to Gorodets, Nizhny Novgorod, Makariev, famous for their fairs, and from there - to the Saratov and Astrakhan provinces. Through the Caspian steppes, Khokhloma dishes were delivered to Central Asia, Persia, and India.
The British, Germans, French willingly bought up the Trans-Volga products in Arkhangelsk, where they were delivered along the Kholmogory tract. The peasants turned, painted wooden utensils and took them for sale to the large trading village of Khokhloma (Nizhny Novgorod province), where there was a bargain. Hence the name "Khokhloma painting", Or simply "Khokhloma".
Manufacturing technology "Khokhloma"
The technological process of creating Khokhloma products still retains the basic principles found back in the 17th-18th centuries. Basically, this process is as follows.
1. First from dried wood grind on a lathe on a white wooden promise ( "linen").
2. After drying the "linen" primed liquid purified clay - "vape" as the masters call it. After priming, the product is dried for 7-8 hours and must be manually covered with several layers of drying oil (linseed oil). The master dipped a special tampon made of sheep or calf skin turned inside out into a bowl with drying oil, and then quickly rubbed it into the surface of the product, turning it so that the drying oil was evenly distributed.
This operation is very responsible. The quality of wooden utensils, the strength of the painting will depend on it in the future. During the day, the product will be covered with drying oil 3-4 times. The last layer will be dried to a “slight touch” - when the drying oil slightly sticks to the finger, no longer staining it.
3. Next step - tinning, that is, rubbing silver or tin into the surface of the product (currently aluminum powder is used). It was also performed manually with a sheepskin swab. After tinning, the objects acquire a beautiful white-mirror shine, and are ready for painting.
4. After murals the product was again rubbed with drying oil, varnished twice and placed for several hours in a hardening furnace, where the temperature reached 150 °C. In order for the paints not to lose color, they must be heat-resistant. Thanks to the durable lacquer coating, Khokhloma is not afraid of heat, cold, or water, so you can serve various dishes, including hot ones, in Khokhloma dishes.
Painting under Khokhloma
The main colors that determine the character and recognizability of Khokhloma painting are red and black (cinnabar and soot), but others are also allowed to revive the pattern - brown, light-colored greens, yellow tone. Painting brushes were made from squirrel tails so that they could draw a very thin line.
Painting is used in Khokhloma "horse"(when the pattern is applied with red or black paint on the golden surface of the background) and "background"(on the contrary, the golden background is painted over in red or black, and the patterns themselves remain golden. It is carried out in two stages: first, the contours of the pattern are drawn, then the background is covered, leaving the pattern itself golden, to match the background color. This method is also called "writing under the background" ).
In addition, there are various types of ornaments:
- "gingerbread"- usually inside a cup or dish is a geometric figure - a square or a rhombus - decorated with grass, berries, flowers;
- "grass"- a pattern of large and small blades of grass;
- "curly"- leaves and flowers in the form of golden curls on a red or black background;
Masters and simplified ornaments are used. For example, "speck"(pattern "berries"), which is applied with a stamp cut from the plates of a puffball mushroom, or with a piece of fabric folded in a special way. All products are painted by hand, and the painting is not repeated anywhere.
No matter how expressive the painting is, as long as the pattern or background remains silvery, this is not yet a real “Khokhloma”.
Khokhloma products
Khokhloma products attract not only the beauty of the ornament. They are valued for their durable lacquer coating, thanks to which they are used in everyday life. In a Khokhloma dish, you can serve okroshka to the table, pour hot tea into a cup - and nothing will be done with a wooden product: varnish will not crack, paint will not fade. It is no coincidence that at all times the existence of the Volga craft craftsmen, who own the "tricks" of making this "magic dishes".
The range of Khokhloma products has been formed for a long time. It is based on carved spoon products And turning utensils: cups, bowls, coasters, bowls, salt shakers, spoons. In recent decades, new forms of household items have been created: sets of dishes for compote, fish soup, salad, berries, pancakes and honey, kitchen sets - coasters with shelves, as well as large decorative items for home decoration - decorative dishes, panels. In the decoration of Khokhloma products, folk craftsmen use several options. All of them differ in temperature conditions, the duration of drying and hardening, the subtleties of performing techniques. On the example of one of the types of finishes, the operations through which each item goes through are visible.
The process of making Khokhloma
make Khokhloma products made from wood of local hardwoods - linden, aspen, birch. From dried wood - small-sized "stools", sawn into thick blocks of "ridges", blanks and "churaks" are hewn out. In the turning shop, a massive workpiece turns into a conceived product, the "churak" seems to melt under the master's cutter, everything superfluous flies off with a light white ribbon of shavings. The turned product is dried again and only then it gets to the finishers, who prepare it for painting. Sometimes one product passes through the hands of a master finisher up to three dozen times.
Semifinished dried at a temperature of 22-28 ° C for 3-20 days, depending on the size of the product. When the moisture content of the wood reaches 6-8 percent, drying is completed. If the humidity is higher, the product may turn out to be of poor quality: with bubbles - breaks in the varnish surface.
Dried products putty. They do it either in the old fashioned way with a vape, or with special putties. Wap- fine-grained elutriated clay, diluted to the density of very muddy water. 25-50 percent of chalk is added to the solution. It is easier to apply putty from liquid flour paste. A piece of woolen cloth is dipped into the prepared solution and the product is coated with it. After drying, the operation is repeated again. Final drying lasts 6-8 hours.
primed product with linseed oil, which is applied with a linen cloth. After that, he is allowed to rest for 40-50 minutes and only then wiped with a flap, removing excess oil. After priming, the product is placed in an oven for 4-6 hours, where the temperature is maintained at 40-50 °C. For drying products using Khokhloma technology, a cabinet is needed in which the temperature can be adjusted within the range of 30-120 ° C. The dried blanks are cooled to room temperature and lightly polished.
The next responsible process is linseed product coating. To do this, take natural drying oil, cooked from linseed or hemp oil. It is evenly smeared on the hands and the product is lightly rubbed with them as if they were washing it. After drying for 2-3 hours at a temperature of 22-25 ° C, when the drying oil no longer sticks to the hands, but the film is not completely dry, the product is dried a second time, applying a thicker layer. If the wood absorbs a lot of drying oil, such as aspen, then the whole process is repeated again, if not enough, it is enough to oil the product twice. As soon as the surface of the product acquires an even sheen, it can be tinned, that is, coated with aluminum powder.
For application noon used with model devices - dolls, which are a tampon, to the working part of which a piece of natural fur (preferably sheepskin) with a short-cut pile is sewn. After half-drying, the product acquires an even metallic sheen. In this form, it goes to the painting.
Khokhloma painting
For paints used for murals Khokhloma products are subject to increased requirements, since many of them can burn out from high temperatures during drying and hardening. Masters take heat-resistant mineral paints - ocher, minium, as well as cinnabar and carmine, soot, chrome greens. Dilute them with purified turpentine.
Mostly women work in the dye shops. The artists sit at low tables, on low stools. With such a landing, the knee is a support for the object being painted. Khokhloma craftswomen are characterized by working on weight: a small turning thing, leaning on the knee, is held with the left hand, and with the right hand, an ornament is applied to its rounded surface.
This way of holding the painted object makes it easy to turn it in any direction with any inclination. Brushes, paints, a palette and things in work are conveniently placed on the table. To apply a simple ornament, stamps are used, which are cut out of hat felt, a raincoat mushroom and other materials that hold paint well and allow you to print a pattern on a product. When performing the motifs "berry", "flower" often use round pokes from rolled nylon fabric.
Khokhloma masters master a special technique of holding a brush, in which not only fingers, but the whole hand are involved in the process of writing, thanks to which it is possible to draw long plastic strokes and series of strokes on spherical or cylindrical surfaces in one continuous, inseparable movement.
The brush, placed on the phalanges of the index and middle fingers, is pressed against them with the pad of the thumb, which allows you to slightly rotate it while writing. When painting, they sometimes lightly lean on the little finger, touching it to the product. A thin brush with a hairy tip is placed almost vertically to the surface of the object. It is usually led to itself, slightly rotating in the direction where the smear is bent.
Khokhloma painting two types of writing are characteristic and classes of ornament closely related to them - "horse" And "background".
"Horse" painting applied with plastic strokes on a metallized surface, forming a free openwork pattern. A classic example of horse writing is "grass", or "grass painting" with red and black bushes, stems, creating a kind of graphic pattern on a gold background.
Another kind of riding letter - "under the sheet". Larger plant forms are widely used in it - rounded leaves, berries, located symmetrically at the stem.
For "background" painting characteristic is the use of a background - black or color, while the drawing itself remains golden. Before the background is filled, the contours of motifs are preliminarily applied to the surface to be painted. The forms of large motifs are modeled by hatching. Often, a small herbal pattern is written on a painted background - a "postscript". A more complex type of background writing is the curl, so named for the profusion of round curls that create fabulous shapes of plants, flowers, and birds.
Khokhloma decoration
After painting, the product goes to the final finishing, during which it is rubbed with drying oil, varnished twice and placed for several hours in a hardening oven, where the temperature reaches 150 ° C.
Modern Khokhloma
Currently, Khokhloma painting has become widespread. Two of its major centers are widely known - the Seminsk factory of art products "Khokhloma artist" and the Semenov order "Badge of Honor" production association "Khokhloma painting", located in the Gorky region.
The Semin masters, who continue the traditions of the indigenous Khokhloma, subtly feel the beauty of meadow herbs and wild berries. They paint predominantly traditional, ancient-shaped dishes. Semyonov masters, city dwellers, often use rich forms of garden flowers in painting, preferring the technique of painting "under the background". They love precise contour drawing and make extensive use of a variety of shading to model motifs. But along with the main centers of Khokhloma painting, many new industries have emerged that produce products "under gold".
The products are of great variety. The simple forms of wooden utensils - bowls, cups and barrels, supplies and kandeks - go back to traditional Russian utensils. Beautiful in proportion, strong and stable, they create an atmosphere of comfort and conviviality in the house. Rural craftsmen are not inclined to search for innovative, spectacular solutions, preferring a set of familiar items, the optimal sizes and proportions of which have become classic. Such dishes, selected by the century-old tradition of turning craft and already possessing high artistic merit, are painted by craftswomen with floral patterns.
The painters are excellent at all types of Khokhloma painting, they know and love the golden patterns of the kudrina, ancient grass writing with sprawling black and scarlet stems applied with calligraphically precise strokes. However, in their work, the masters prefer painting with a black-lacquer background and more often paint images of garden and meadow flowers, fruits and leaves that are familiar and so close to the villager. The artists combine in one work the beauty of the spring flowering of nature and its autumn generosity, in poetic images embodying the farmer's dream of a rich harvest, thanks to which the objects they paint become a kind of symbol of the wish for well-being. The black background, so beloved by craftswomen, helps them achieve greater sonority in the color scheme of the painting, and the floral pattern stands out more clearly on it.
In their work, they widely use a special modeling technique - they apply a colored contour of a soft shade to the depicted plants, which envelops the motifs with radiance, giving them fabulousness. Such a mysteriously shimmering ornament covers not only gift items, unique works that masters prepare for large reviews of folk arts and crafts - vases, brothers, ladles, but also mass production of collective farm craft.
The surface of the ladle-duck with mounted ladles, painted by the leading master of the collective farm industry Antonina Vasilievna Razborova, is covered outside and inside with a pattern of branches of a forest wild grouse tree with small ruddy apples and golden stars of inflorescences. Similar five-petalled flowers, different in size, are written next to strawberries and apples, raspberries, hops and gooseberries, and bunches of mountain ash. But they are so organically included in the ornament that there is no doubt about the legitimacy of such combinations.
Khokhloma is a colloquial term for painted items, a traditional Russian folk craft. Decorated most often wooden utensils. A golden background or a golden ornament, combined with rich saturated colors and ornate painting technology, made it possible to create a truly spectacular product.
The history of the fishery
The craft arose in the second half of the 17th century in the villages of the Volga region. Khokhloma is a major sales center, “gave” the corresponding name to the painting. A characteristic feature is the gilding of wooden surfaces and generous decoration with various patterns. The free brush style made it possible to work in two key directions at once: background painting and riding composition.
There were many villages on the left bank of the Volga, where fishing flourished. Residents of the villages of Glibino, Khryashchi, Shabashi, Bezdely, Mokushino brought goods to Khokhloma for sale. The true homeland of Khokhloma is the Koverninsky district of the Nizhny Novgorod region.
Coloring "under gold" is often associated with the Old Believers of the Volga region. They persecuted the "old faith" and settled in more dense forests. There were many talented artists among them, who painted icons and decorated ancient books using fine brush drawings. The inhabitants of the Trans-Volga region excelled in turning and woodcarving. The fusion of the two traditions gave rise to the birth of the Khokhloma craft. He absorbed the rich presentation and pretentiousness of icon painters, as well as the traditional forms and impeccable lines of the Trans-Volga masters.
There are also some beautiful legends. One of them is about the icon painter Andrei Loskut, who at one time fled the capital because of the reforms of the patriarch. He found shelter in the dense forest and continued to paint icons “in the old fashioned way. However, the patriarch was informed about the whereabouts of the fugitive and that he teaches the “old” icon painting of the inhabitants of nearby villages. The rebel icon painter voluntarily burned himself at the stake, before that bequeathing to his students to preserve his skill.
According to another legend, an unknown master lived in the thicket of the forest, with whom he himself came up with such a luxurious letter on wood. From time to time, he presented the inhabitants of nearby villages with his creations. After some time, the fame of the marvelous master reached the king. He immediately sent his subordinates to the forest to bring the Khokhloma founder to the chambers. However, the master did not want to submit to the king. The talented stranger was never found. So simple craft was not taken away from ordinary people.
Khokhloma painting colors
(painting on a white background)
Traditional Khokhloma creations are somewhat paradoxical: the masters managed to create really complex compositions with the help of a rather meager palette of colors. Wealth and interesting texture were formed due to the obligatory golden base. "Under gold" was either a background or key elements of the ornament.
(painting on a black background)
Other central colors of the palette are black and red. It was possible to give completeness and versatility to the drawing through the use of white and ocher.
(painting on an allom red background)
Murals on a turquoise, emerald, orange, scarlet background were much less common. The true goal of any Khokhloma master is to convey a lofty idea through perfectly matched colors, creating a complex and high-tech play of strokes.
Primary colors
To create paintings "under Khokhloma" use the following colors:
- The black(#000000);
- Red(#FF0000);
- White(#FFFFFF);
- Orange(#FF4F00);
- Choice yellow(#FFBA00);
- Green(#00FF00);
- Brown(#964B00);
- Emerald(#50C878);
- Blue(#00BFFF).
Elements and motifs of Khokhloma painting
Distinguish between "top" and "background" writing. In the first case, the master forms a pattern on a golden background using black, red and white tones. It is on the example of Khokhloma drawings that one can very clearly consider the whole “soul” of the Russian people, a special presentation, a warm and slightly naive life philosophy of an entire people. These are his well-known "grass" and "spikelets", love for still lifes, where the masters especially generously used bright juicy colors, the ability to create complex compositions through delicate strokes.
(branches and bushes)
grass painting represented by motifs "under the sedge". The oldest type of pattern is written in curls, strokes, small berries, spikelets on a silver-plated background. From individual blades of grass, skilled craftsmen could form the motif of a chicken or a cockerel, which, for example, sits on a branch among dense foliage;
(berries and leaves)
"berry" and "leaf" differs from the previous technique in larger "fat" strokes. Masters form oval leaves, round berries, stylizing compositions with massive plant forms. Particularly popular are patterns with grape bunches or leaves, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, large cherries. On placers of tulips, asters, buttercups, daisies, bluebells, the craftsmen managed to arrange currants, gooseberries and mountain ash;
(stitches and patterns)
"gingerbread" or "gingerbread" usually performed inside cups, dishes, bowls. These are geometric shapes that fit into a square or rhombus. In the center draw the "sun". The periphery of the ornament is enriched with miniature details.
(floral ornaments)
Horse writing is always created with thin, delicate strokes. The composition is light and airy, as if illuminated by a golden glow from within. As a rule, this is a fairly simple way of applying paints, which allows you to improvise to some extent, modify the composition at your own discretion in the midst of work.
With background writing, a canvas with contour lines is initially formed. Then the surrounding background is painted over with red and black paint. Background painting is a more complex and time-consuming process. There is no place for improvisation, and the original idea must be realized exactly as the master came up with at the very beginning.
Khokhloma painting technique
(In the workshop of artistic painting, Semenov, USSR)
Prepared wood products are dried and primed with vapa or liquid clay. Blanks dry for at least 7 hours. Then the wooden surface is carefully treated with drying oil. In total, the procedure must be repeated 3-4 times during the day.
The next step is tinning. Aluminum powder is rubbed into the wood. The procedure is carried out manually using a leather swab. After that, the products become shiny and ready for painting.
For drawing a picture, only thin brushes of different "calibers" are suitable. The finished drawing is left to dry for a while, and then opened with varnish. The final stage is hardening in an oven at a temperature of +160 degrees. It is then that a luxurious “golden” film is formed.
What is the difference between Khokhloma and Gorodets murals
The unique Khokhloma painting is difficult to confuse with other folk crafts. Masters use exclusively floral ornaments. The key feature of the painting is the golden background. Rich overflows are effectively set off by openwork riding patterns and massive large elements of a red and black palette in the background painting.
(Gorodets painting)
Unlike Khokhloma, Gorodets ornaments have no gold motifs at all. However, against the backdrop of the minimalist color palette of Khokhloma, the masters of Gorodets painting used a lot of colors, playing with shades, overflows, whitening. If situational drawings cannot be found in the Khokhloma painting, then in the Gorodets craft it was the images of various celebrations, entertainment events and simply images of everyday life that were popular.
These paintings may seem similar only at first glance. Having carefully studied the features of the crafts, it becomes clear that they are fundamentally different from each other.
Khokhloma painting
The painting of wooden utensils appeared in Russia a long time ago - in the 16th century. They produced it in large quantities, hundreds, thousands of pieces, since the tree wore out quickly, and utensils are necessary in everyday life. It was sold "at Macarius", in Moscow and in Veliky Ustyug.
Art historians attribute the origin of the Khokhloma craft to the second half of the 17th century. Initially, they were engaged in fishing in the villages of Semino, Novopokrovskoye, Khryashchi, Kuligino, by the end of the 19th century. the list expanded to 150 surrounding villages.
For the first time, the mention of the village of Khokhloma is found in documents of the 16th century. Even under Ivan the Terrible, Khokhloma was known as a forest area called “Khokhlomskaya Ukhozheya” (Ukhozheya is a place cleared from the forest for arable land).
Wooden utensils have been widely used by Russian people since ancient times: ladles and brackets in the shape of a floating bird, round bratins, dinner bowls, spoons of various shapes and sizes were found in archaeological excavations as early as the 10th-13th centuries. There are samples that date back several millennia.
In ancient times, in the dense Trans-Volga forests near the trading village of Khokhloma, the first settlers hiding from persecution were "leakers", that is, fugitives who took refuge here from persecution for the "old faith", from tsarist arbitrariness, landlord oppression. Among them were icon painters and masters of handwritten miniatures. It was not easy to feed on peasant labor on scarce land, and fugitive people adapted themselves to painting wooden utensils, which were sharpened here by local craftsmen from time immemorial. Previously unknown painting fabulously transformed modest kitchen utensils. But especially beautiful and inimitable were the various sets, bowls and brothers that came out from under the brush of one famous master. It seemed that his painting absorbed the sun's rays - golden, which are at noon, and red - cinnabar at dawn.
It was said among the people that the artist painted his dishes not with a simple one, but with a magic brush woven from the sun's rays. Bright, festive dishes fell in love not only with the inhabitants of the district, the fame of it spread throughout Russia. Seeing Khokhloma dishes, the king immediately guessed who was painting them, and sent guards to the Volga forests. The warned painter managed to escape, but he taught the locals the tricks of the unusual craft and left them paints and a magic brush. Such is the old legend about the origin of the bright and original art of Khokhloma painting, which is often called golden, fiery, or fiery. And this is no coincidence; the art of Khokhloma could not have been born without fire, without hardening products in a Russian oven.
Already in the 18th century, the craft was widely spread among the peasant population and became known far beyond the borders of the country.
Elegantly painted wooden utensils were not inferior in beauty to the royal ones. But it is inconvenient to use unpainted wooden utensils, because wood absorbs liquid, quickly becomes dirty, and cracks from hot food. We noticed that the oiled walls of the vessels are easier to clean, the dishes last longer.
It was then, probably, that the idea arose to cover the dishes with drying oil - boiled linseed oil. Drying oil covered the surface of the object with an impenetrable film. This composition, used by icon painters to protect paintings from moisture, has been known to Russian masters for a long time. Painted utensils using gold were also not durable, and besides, the poor peasant could not afford to buy them.
So the peasants began to think about how to make the dishes so that they were no worse than the boyars, and the peasants could use them. Folk craftsmen solved this problem thanks to the icon painters from the Old Believer environment, who mastered the ancient technique of “gilding” products. It is no coincidence that the basis of the painting was a golden background.
It is known that in ancient times, among the Slavs, and then in Russia, silver, and later gold, was used as a symbol of light. So it was in the works of folk art, in book miniatures, icon painting. Art historians suggest that it is from the technique of writing icons that the marvelous “golden Khokhloma” originates. But then, for the sake of cheapening, the craftsmen began to use silver powder instead of gold.
More than one generation of masters took part in the creation of "Khokhloma gold". Each of them contributed to the improvement of this unique art.
There are almost no genre scenes in the paintings of Khokhloma; the artists directed all their art to the depiction of plant forms, or the so-called grass ornament, associated with the painting traditions of Ancient Russia. Flexible, wavy stems with leaves, berries and flowers run around the walls of the vessel, decorate its inner surface, giving the object a uniquely elegant appearance. On some things, the stems of flowers stretch upwards, on others they curl or run in a circle.
The Khokhloma craft reached its peak in the 18th century. At this time, two types of letters are formed: riding And background.
horse painting was carried out with plastic strokes on the tinned surface of the dishes, creating a magnificent openwork pattern. A classic example of "riding" writing is "grass"
Salt cellar with "horse painting"
For "background" the painting was characterized by the use of a black or red background, while the drawing itself remained golden.
Bowl with "background" painting
But such a color scheme did not appear in Khokhloma painting right away. It has undergone tremendous changes, over the years it has become more concise and solemn. The bleaching agents, which created the impression of a three-dimensional form, disappeared, and the range of colors was limited. If earlier masters used white, blue, blue, pink, green and brown paints, then gradually red, black and gold become the main colors of the ornament.
This limitation was caused not only by the fact that these paints did not burn out in the oven during hardening, but also by the fact that artists preferred the combination of these colors, primarily because of their special decorative qualities.
"Horse painting"
When “riding” writing, the master applies a drawing with black or red paint on a gold or silver background of the product.
Three types of ornament can be distinguished here: "herbal" painting, painting "under the sheet" or "under the berry", painting "gingerbread" or "saffron milk".
"Grass Painting" reminiscent of familiar and familiar herbs to everyone since childhood: sedge, white-bearded, meadow grass. This is perhaps the most ancient type of painting. It is written in curls, various strokes, small berries or spikelets on a silvery background. "Grass" drawing has always been popular among Khokhloma masters of painting. With great love, this drawing was written out with a brush, then collecting it in thick bushes, then scattering them over the surface of the product.
A set of dishes with "horseback" herbal painting
The methods of painting floral ornaments are so diverse that amazing motifs come out from under the brush of the master. They twist into peculiar elements, the combination of which creates many combinations. From individual blades of grass, artists paint their favorite motif of a rooster or hen, which sits on a tree and pecks berries from it.
The letter, in which, in addition to weed, the masters include leaves, berries and flowers, is called "under the sheet" or "under the berry". These paintings differ from the "grass" in larger strokes, forming the shape of oval leaves, round berries, left by the poke of the brush. Folk craftsmen take their motifs by stylizing plant forms. Therefore, it is not surprising that on the products of Khokhloma masters we see flowers, daisies, bells, grape leaves, strawberries, currants, gooseberries, cranberries.
Painting on the "background" under the "leaf" and "berry"
The basis of the painting under the sheet make up pointed or rounded leaves, connected by three or five, and berries located in groups near a flexible stem. In the painting of large planes, larger motifs are used - cherries, strawberries, gooseberries, grapes. This painting has great decorative possibilities. In comparison with the "grass" it is multi-colored. For example, if in the "grass" painting mainly black and red are used, then in the painting "under the sheet" or "under the berry" masters write leaves in green, as well as in combination with brown and yellow.
These murals are enriched with a herbal pattern, which is written in such compositions with green, red, brown colors. Another peculiar kind of painting belongs to the riding letter - "gingerbread" or "saffron milk". This is a geometric figure, most often inscribed in a square or rhombus, and in the middle of the rectangle - a "big camelina" - the sun.
Gingerbread painting are more simple and conditional than herbal ones, when you look at them, it seems that the Sun, with rays curled in a circle, is in constant motion.
Dish with "horseback" painting with ornament "gingerbread"
IN "background" In writing, two types of ornament are distinguished: - painting "under the background" and painting "kudrin". painting "under the background", as already noted, begins with drawing a stem line with leaves and flowers, and sometimes with images of birds or fish.
Painting on the "background"
Then the background is painted with paint, most often black. Details of large motifs are drawn on a golden background. On top of the painted background, “herbal additions” are made with the tip of the brush - rhythmic strokes along the main stem, berries and small flowers “stick” with a poke of the brush. “Gold” shines through in this type of writing only in the silhouettes of leaves, in large forms of flowers, in the silhouettes of fabulous birds, which Khokhloma masters love to draw.
supplies. Painting "under the background". 1930s GIM.
Painting "under the background" a much more time-consuming process and not every master will cope with such work. Items with such a painting were usually intended for a gift, and, as a rule, they were made to order and were valued higher. A variety of "background" painting is "curly". It is distinguished by a stylized image of leaves, flowers, curls. The space not occupied by them is painted over with paint, and the golden branches look spectacular against a bright red or black background. Curly hair got its name from golden curly curls, the lines of which form bizarre patterned shapes of leaves, flowers and fruits.
Painting on the "background" - "curly"
painting "curly" looks like a carpet. Its peculiarity is that the main role is played not by the brush stroke, but by the contour line. A flat spot of gold and a subtle touch of detail. The background in this type of painting is also painted in red or black.
Technology of manufacturing and painting Khokhloma products
The life of a wooden cup, the oldest item in terms of shape, began with a turner. In the presence of a large number of small rivers in the Trans-Volga region, which were easy to dam, the peasants found it more profitable for themselves to build water lathes, like mills. Having chosen a suitable place in the forest, near the water, they set up a small hut, with five or six crowns, and the river was dammed up. The room was illuminated by small portage windows, and in winter they installed a stove that was heated in black, without a pipe.
Outside, near the dam, a huge water-filling wheel was fitted to the wall of the house. Water overflowing through the dam filled the buckets, and the wheel began to rotate, setting in motion metal shafts - machine tools. To save effort and money, such lathes often built two or even four families.
The turnery inside is quite small - 4x4 meters. In addition to the furnace and two lathes, there are shelves for finished products on the walls. The mouth of the stove is turned towards the door so that the smoke comes out faster.
Before starting work, the turner takes a piece of log measuring 70-80 centimeters and, sharpening one end, drives the log into the chuck of the machine shaft. Then he turns the lever, releasing the wheel, and it begins to rotate, setting the machine in motion. Changing the tool all the time, the master begins to process the rotating log. Here in his hand is a "pipe" - a rounded knife on a long handle (it is necessary for emphasis). With this knife, he removes the bark and all the unevenness of the wood from the ridge. Then with a “smoker” with a straight knife, it cleans the entire cylindrical surface of the ridge.
What follows is a very responsible operation. The wood blank must be marked for the number of cups that should be obtained. The turner does this by eye, but by the fact that the parts of the ridge marked in size are accurate to the centimeter, one can see a lot of experience and skill worked out to virtuosity. Lightly, as if playfully, he touches the rotating wooden cylinder. Falls, curling into a curl, thin shavings, and the smell of fresh wood spreads throughout the room.
Having processed the outer surface (rounding the walls and marking the bottom of the cup), the craftsman selects its inner part with hook-knives, smoothes the outer walls, and before our eyes, in a matter of minutes, a finished cup appears from a piece of wood. A cup of such an impeccable shape, with such smooth walls that you want to stroke it, hold it in your hand, admire the pristine beauty of natural wood. Having finished processing one ridge, the turner inserts another, and work continues.
In a day, an experienced craftsman could carve up to a hundred cups. And in Khokhloma, in the heyday of turning dishes, up to a million pieces of products were brought annually.
The ladle-maker and spoon-maker had the same skill worked out by time. When carving a ladle, the master in a piece of wood saw in advance the future image of the product, and under his skillful cutter, natural curves and knots became either a bird with a swan's neck, or a horse's head proudly arched, or suddenly twisted in a loop, resembling an unknown creature, ready to either swim away, or take off.
Taking a piece of wood of a certain size - a baklusha, the spoonman cut it into as many pieces as, in his opinion, spoons could turn out. A few more blows - and in front of us is an almost finished spoon. Then comes the final finishing. With a hook-knife (the same as that of a turner, but short), the inner part of the blade is selected, the surface is planed, smoothed, and the product is ready.
The whole family worked on the dressing of spoons, and here there was a firm division of labor: the most important operations (until the stump acquired a clear spoon shape) were the responsibility of men. The surface of the spoons was finished by women or children, and finally men corrected them again.
Finished spoons came to Semyonov, where they were bought up and given away for coloring. Every week, up to half a million pieces were brought into the city.
The coloring of Khokhloma products is that magical process when an ordinary white tree acquires the brilliance and beauty of gilding.
Since the processing of products took place with the use of drying oil and hardening in a furnace, the room was filled with the intoxicating smell of burnt oil. Therefore, if the craftsmen had the opportunity, they painted in separate rooms - dye houses. Those who did not have a separate room worked in a residential hut.
The dye house was a log cabin with large furnaces, it was heated in a black way. The room was illuminated by a small window. The ovens had a low mouth, as special shelves for drying products were placed above it up to the ceiling. The same shelves went along the wall - finished products were placed on them.
In the villages where spoons were dyed, there were few individual dye-houses: there were only twenty-five dye-houses in ten villages, and they were distributed very unevenly.
Manufacturing process Khokhloma painting of products began with drying. White dishes were sharpened from raw wood, so they were kept at room temperature for twelve to fifteen days. Then they made a drive - the products were primed, coated with clay).
The fact is that wood is a very porous material, and in order to close all the pores, to create a waterproof layer, it had to be smeared. Ordinary clay turned out to be a good material for this, which is still mined in large quantities on the banks of the Volga, near Gorodets. Previously, dyers bought it on the basis of such a calculation: a pood of clay - a pood of flour.
Khokhlomichi call this clay vap, which is why the very process of impregnating products with clay began to be called vaping. The clay was dissolved in warm water, the pieces were kneaded and stirred, obtaining a solution of a certain density. Then a rolled piece of sheepskin was dipped into the solution and the walls of the product were smeared with thick opium. After that, the product was left for a while - the solution had to be absorbed into the wood. Then greased again. The product, welded in this way, with a clay crust formed on it, was placed on the boards, where it was supposed to dry.
The dried product was impregnated with unboiled linseed oil using pieces of wool. It was again held for a short time so that the layer of clay mixed with oil, and then polished, wiping the entire surface of the product with bast and finally with linen rags (waste during its processing). The purpose of sanding is to drive the oiled mass into the pores of the wood and remove grains of sand and all excess mass. After polishing, the product was placed to dry on boards in a heated oven and kept there for four to five hours.
The third operation is puttying, that is, puttying the product with a mixture of clay and drying oil. This mixture should close up all the bumps, knots, cracks and other defects in the wood. The master puts the finished putty in the right place and rubs it with his finger, removing the excess mass with a scraper. The puttied product is again placed to dry.
The next stage is processing with drying oil to create an oil film on the product.
The preparation of drying oil is a special and complex process that only the old masters knew, keeping the secret of its composition from each other. The products were smeared with drying oil three times, each time in between they were dried again and again and only after that they were placed in an oven at a temperature of 80-90 degrees. Only now, in the fifth operation, the oiled product was tinned - coated with tin powder so that it first became silver, and then, under drying oil, gold.
At the end of the 19th century, aluminum powder was invented, which began to be used instead of drying oil. Tinning in a cold way (from the usual hot method, a tree could catch fire) is a brilliant find of Khokhlomichi. This method was kept secret for a long time, and only in our time has it become widely known. It consists in the ability, with various complex manipulations with various constituent substances, to turn tin bars into a fine powder, which is rubbed with a special swab - a chrysalis - into a proliferated product so that it becomes light and shiny, like silver. The tinned product is ready for painting with paints.
If the previous operations were associated with purely technical techniques, then at this stage the ability to write freely with a brush is required.
In the past, Khokhloma craftsmen worked in families, and from an early age the child was introduced to artistic skills. Therefore, Khokhloma is so fluent in the technique of painting. His hand now presses the brush and draws a wide juicy strip, then leads it easily and freely, and a thin, barely visible line appears on the subject.
Painted tinned products were placed in a furnace for hardening. The drying oil turned yellow from the oven heat, and under its film the silver began to glow with gold.
This work was very hard. As already noted, only wealthy peasants had dye-houses, and those who were poorer did dyeing in the same room where they lived.
Here is what Sofya Ivanovna Rodicheva, a dyer from Semenov, who at one time worked for fifteen years for a buyer, merchant Bulganin, said: “It was sooty, smoky and dirty in the hut, carbon monoxide from paint. Sometimes they got so bad that they lay for three days, losing their sight. In general, in old age, all dyers' eyesight became very poor.
Russian furnaces in the houses of dyers, as well as in dye-works, were with a low mouth. The top of the stove was fenced with boards, bars - grates - were laid across them. On special boards on the grate and set to dry the spoons.
It was easier to work in the dyers, although it was also not easy. Painted dishes were placed in the oven immediately, as soon as the oven was heated up and the heat was removed from it, and in order to place the dishes in the depths of the furnace, it was necessary to climb inside. To do this, they put on trousers, a jacket, boots, tried to do everything faster, but when they got out, the clothes were already smoking. Up to fifty thousand spoons were put into the oven at a time, and from five to eight thousand into the oven.
Modern technological process of Khokhloma painting
1- The turned or cut ground workpiece is primed (by dipping). Clay (vapa) or primer (No. 138) is used as a primer.
2- Wipe the primed workpiece with a soft sponge and dry at room temperature for 6-8 hours.
3- The workpiece is covered 2-3 times with drying oil or a mixture of drying oil and varnish in equal parts.
4- Intermediate drying at room temperature for 5 hours.
5- Rubbing aluminum powder with soft leather or suede until a mirror surface is obtained.
6- Artistic painting with oil paints diluted with natural drying oil.
7- Drying 24 hours on racks at a temperature of 20-25°C or 1.5-2 hours in an electric oven at a temperature of 100°C.
8- Varnishing 3-5 times with PF-283 varnish, with intermediate drying and polishing.
9- Drying 2-3 hours at room temperature and 15-20 minutes in an electric oven at a temperature of 200°C or 3-4 hours in an electric oven at a temperature of 130-140°C until a golden hue appears.
At present, products with Khokhloma painting are produced by several dozen enterprises, but there are two genuine Khokhloma centers: this is the Khokhloma Artist in the village of Semino and the Khokhloma Painting in the city of Semenov. Seminskaya painting is more traditional, closer to its origins - peasant dishes. Semyonov's motifs are more fancy and refined, designed for more demanding customers.
Khokhloma - an old Russian folk craft that arose in the 17th century in the Volga region (the village of Semino, Nizhny Novgorod province). This is perhaps the most famous type of Russian folk painting. It is a decorative painting on wooden utensils and furniture, made in red and black (rarely green) tones and gold on a golden background. It is surprising that when painting a tree, not gold, but silver tin powder is applied. Then the product is coated with a special composition and processed three or four times in an oven. This is when this delightful honey-gold color appears, thanks to which light wooden utensils seem massive. Traditional Khokhloma ornament - juicy red strawberries and mountain ash, flowering branches. Birds, fish and all sorts of animals are less common.
Initially, the word Khokhloma meant the name of one of the trading villages. Here, craftsmen from the surrounding villages brought their products. It was the time of the revival of Russia, which came after the liberation from the devastating Tatar-Mongol yoke, the time of renovation of temples and churches. Folk crafts have become a new source of livelihood. The new craft united the centuries-old traditions of local residents and refugees, especially the Old Believers.
The folk craft has been constantly developing. Already at the end of the 19th century, Khokhloma was presented at every domestic and foreign fair. And after the unprecedented success at the International Exhibition in Paris, the export of Khokhloma has grown dramatically to various countries. Trading firms in Germany, England, France and India bought especially much. Even one of the German entrepreneurs took up the production of wooden spoons, which he passed off as Khokhloma. Since the beginning of the 20th century, folk crafts have experienced a crisis caused byworld and civil wars. Because of this, many craftsmen lost orders and closed their workshops. In Soviet times, Khokhloma received a second wind, a new generation of craftsmen appeared. And now Khokhloma is "returning" to us in Russia and the world.
Legend of "Khokhloma"
More recently, in the villages of the Gorky region, one could hear the legend of how Khokhloma came to the Volga land and where she got her fiery colors.
They say that a master icon painter lived in Moscow in ancient times. The king highly appreciated his skills and generously rewarded him for his efforts. The master loved his craft, but most of all he loved the free life, and therefore one day he secretly left the royal court and moved to the remote Kerzhen forests.
He cut down his hut and began to do the same business. He dreamed of such an art that would become dear to everyone, like a simple Russian song, and that the beauty of his native land would be reflected in it. And so the first Khokhloma cups appeared, decorated with lush flowers and thin twigs.
The fame of the great master spread throughout the earth. People came from everywhere to admire his skill. Many cut huts here and settled nearby.
Finally, the glory of the master reached the formidable sovereign, and he ordered a detachment of archers to find the fugitive and bring him. But faster than the archer's feet, popular rumor flew. The master found out about his trouble, gathered fellow villagers and revealed to them the secrets of his craft. And in the morning, when the royal messengers entered the village, everyone saw how the hut of the miracle artist was burning with a bright flame. The hut burned down, and no matter how they searched for the master himself, they were not found anywhere. Only its colors remained on the ground, which seemed to absorb both the heat of the flame and the blackness of the ashes.
The master has disappeared, but his skill has not disappeared, and Khokhloma colors still burn with a bright flame, reminding everyone of the happiness of freedom, and the heat of love for people, and the thirst for beauty. It can be seen that the master's brush was not simple - a brush made of sunlight.
Such is the legend. Like any legend, there is a lot of fiction in it, but its truth is that great skill and great art are preserved only when they are passed from hand to hand, from teacher to student.
Making "Golden Khokhloma"
Russia is a country of forests. Here, both huts and rich mansions were cut from wood. Logs burning hot in the oven and a splinter inserted into the light warmed and illuminated the hut. Sledges, sledges, firewood, a cart - a simple transport, canoes, boats, plows, boats and other river vessels - everything was made of wood.
The most ancient letters - birch bark letters written on pieces of birch bark, and the most familiar peasant shoes in the past - bast shoes woven from the inside of the linden bark - bast, wooden furniture, dishes, household utensils, children's toys - everything tells us about the great role of the forest in the life of a Russian person.
Zavolzhie, rich in forests, was especially famous for its masters of woodworking. Since ancient times, light and durable dishes have been made here from aspen and linden.
The tree was chopped and hewn with axes, sawn into small logs - buckwheat, recessed parts of objects were hollowed out with an adze, and the rest was finished with a knife. A spoon created with hand tools often has an irregular shape; on its surface you can see humps, dents, and a faceted handle. All these are traces of the work of the carver, each of his spoons is the only one, none of them exactly repeats the other.
The dishes were also turned on a lathe. The machine was manual, water or driven by a horse. The dishes made on a lathe have a flat and smooth surface, geometrically regular shape. each spoon turned by a turner exactly repeats the other in shape.
Simple bowls, cups, supplies can be carved by every trained turner. More complex forms - ladles - ducks, ladles - roosters are not carved by every master, but an artist is a craftsman, a person who feels the laws of building a fine, beautiful form.
Turned products with a delicate, slightly pinkish surface of the treated wood are called"linen".
Despite the fact that Khokhloma objects are made of wood, it is never visible, and the golden surface or patterns on the colored background of the products cast a soft metallic sheen.
Gold - a noble beautiful material - is rarely found in nature. Already in very ancient times, gold was used to create jewelry and dishes. In Russia, it was served at rich royal meals and boyar feasts. In addition, dyed, most often red-colored dishes were painted with gold leaf or crafted gold.
Leaf is called very thin leaves of this metal, which are carefully glued to pre-marked places, and created - fine gold powder, diluted with a special solution. It was applied like paint with a brush. These techniques were known to icon painters and miniaturists - masters who decorated handwritten books with drawings and ornaments. Objects and icons gilded in this way were cheaper than those made entirely of gold.
Masters - icon painters invented another way of "cheap" gilding: they covered with drying oil - boiled linseed oil - leaves of silver and silver glued to the surface of the icon. The yellow film of dried drying oil on silver was very similar to gold. Peasant craftsmen began to cover with drying oil not silver, but tin - a silvery, quite common metal. And so the golden Khokhloma dishes appeared on the peasant table.
Golden, red and black - you can find such a combination of colors on many objects of ancient Russian applied art and works of folk craftsmen. For "Khokhloma" these colors are especially important: red gives warmth and softness to artificial gold, and black enhances its radiance. In addition, the round surfaces of objects do not have sharp contours and scatter light.
Fishing technology
So, we now know the secret of Khokhloma gold. But, it turns out, before becoming gold, "Khokhloma" is both silver and clay.
The first of these mugs is called "linen". First, it is dried and then polished - all small roughnesses are removed with a special sandpaper or on a machine, and then from the realm of golden shavings it gets to the dyer. The dried and polished product must be prepared for painting. First, it is coated with linseed oil, and then with a special composition - vape or soil . Modern masters call the imposition of soil - vapes primer . Vapa is reddish-brown in color because it contains clay. A mug smeared with vape looks like a clay mug - under a dense layer of soil, a tree is not visible at all.
The primed product was dried in an oven, then polished, and its surface became smooth and glossy. After that, the mug was smeared several times with drying oil - so that the soil was soaked and a sticky varnish film appeared on its surface. This film adheres easily. noon - powdered metal. In the old days, tin served as half-day, and now it is aluminum, a silvery, light and cheap material.
Rubbing the poluda is called tinned . The tinned mug looks like a silver mug: half-hearth covered the wood with an even layer, and it seems that the mug is cast from metal - it shines with a matte silver sheen.
And only now the brush of a master dyer can touch it. Artists work smartly and diligently. Their usual tools are thin brushes, which they often make themselves from squirrel tails,"bobbleheads" (a piece of sheep's wool wrapped around a stick, or a mushroom - a raincoat) and small jars of paints.
So, the silvery tinned theft is painted. The dyer has finished his work and has already laid the last stroke of paint. Well, what about gold? When will the product shimmering with a cold metallic sheen sparkle with a joyful golden color? This last sacrament is in charge of the lachila and the stove-maker. Previously, a painted product was covered with several layers of varnish - drying oil, and then hardened in an oven at a rather high temperature. And now hand-lacquered objects are hardened in an electric furnace at a temperature of 160 - 180 degrees.
Modern lacquers cover the product with synthetic yellow varnish from spray guns. Under a film of hardened varnish, everything that was silver in the painting becomes gold.
Khokhloma patterns
A familiar three-legged shaggy leaf, a touching star of a flower, a curved twig and, of course, it is a small drop of forest sweetness - a strawberry.
Khokhloma artists like to draw strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries, black and red currants, mountain ash on the surfaces of their products. They call the berries affectionately, and even the same master will never write them the same way: he will slightly change the outline of the sheet, bend the twigs in a different way, scatter flowers and berries - and now the same motif will speak to us in a new way.
In this variety of ornamental motifs, the richness of the artist's creative imagination, and his skill, and his powers of observation are manifested.
Khokhloma images are decorative - they convey the beauty of living life in the most general form. These are ornaments - decorations of objects. And that is why artists create the impression of constant fluidity and changeability of life by changing their ornamental motif.
The pattern of flowers, herbs and berries is called vegetable ornament. But there are several types of this ornament in Khokhloma painting. The most beloved and ancient of them -"grass ornament", or just "weed" . These are elongated, slightly curved blades of grass, written in threes, fives or more - in a bush. "Grass" remotely resembles a sedge inhabitant of water meadows, coastal lakes and rivers. One of the types of this ornament is called"sedge" . But still, it resembles this living grass very remotely, or, as the artists say, the form of real grass in this ornament is generalized - the artist retained only its most general and main features.
Weed is usually written in red and black. Its main wide and long leaves are juicy, because a lot of paint is taken on the brush, and it lies tightly on the surface of the object. The tips of the leaves are written thinly, they curl, as if bending from the wind. Thin and frequent strokes - blades of grass on the sides of the main bush and beads - berries on long stems make this painting especially lively and elegant.
"Grass" is an independent type of painting, but it is an indispensable part of any "Khokhloma" floral ornament. Very often, among the bushes and twigs of black, red, green or yellow grass, the artist places berries, flowers, birds and fish. Such an ornament is also called "herbal", or the name of a berry or flower.
Like a fiery wheel, the most beautiful ornament "gingerbread" rolls along the bottom of the bowls.
Khokhloma murals adorn objects - bowls, ladles, vases, rounded bodies that seem to tell the artist where to bend the twig, where to scatter berries. We say: painting is subject to the form of the object.
For a long time in Russia, images of flowering bushes and fruits were considered a wish for good, prosperity and happiness. This wonderful tradition is preserved today by Khokhloma artists, decorating ordinary objects with elegant paintings. And with them, beauty and joy come to our house, which are generously given to us by craftsmen.