painting is started

After the guilding is finished painting can be started. Painting is always from the dark to the light. It is the same way as we spiritually are going: from the dark to the light, so this is also symbolically. Technically it will give the special transparence, which makes the icons so beautiful.

The first colour will be the ground-colour in dark, which will be brightened later.

The colour is taken very thin and in several layers, until no white comes through anymore.

Now the icon is "layed down" as one says, i.e. the gound colours are covering the whole icon.