Innovation and new digital techniques for the creation of two Marian panels in Vic.

Since 1903, when Don Felix Granda began to give shape to the project of Talleres de Arte Granda, the following have been developed there The many handcrafted techniques, always combined with the latest artistic techniques, place the workshops at the forefront of sacred art. 

As in a swarm, the different departments work together in order to give the projects aesthetic unity and high artistic qualityThe exhibition is provided by professionals in each trade (carving, goldsmithing, polychromy, enameling...) and an excellent team of designers and architects.

A NEW WORK FOR MARE DE DEU DE LOURDES, VIC

Thus, a few months ago, we launched this new project for the Mare de Déu de Lourdes church (Our Lady of Lourdes) in Vic, Barcelona. The church wanted to cover one of its interior walls with panels depicting two scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary: The Annunciation and the Assumption.

Previous infographic made by Granda's team of designers and architects.

The designs were inspired by two mosaics from the Basilica of Lourdes.in France. The sanctuary, mainly Romanesque and Romanesque in style, is especially known for its chapels and domes and for the very valuable Byzantine-style mosaics inside, depicting the Mysteries of the Rosary.

INNOVATION AND NEW DIGITAL TECHNIQUES

For this project was based on a traditional design, but its execution has left behind traditional procedures to result in a work of our own time. On this occasion, digital techniques have made it possible to work with different textures and visual effects on an unconventional material, providing a novel result and adding value in the field of infographic design and composition.

The size of the pieces to be made was 2x2 meters. Given that the panels, with special brushed gold platingThe work required the overlapping of several pieces, with all the challenges this entails. A millimetric cut and a sharp hard joint made the assembly line almost invisible. In order to to give a more modern character to the scenes it was decided to incorporate narrow horizontal and vertical gold bands into the design to match the overlap lines.

Final design of "The Annunciation

The most interesting thing about this digital design technique applied on gold plate is the effect of the background when receiving the light, as there are areas where the gold of the foil is reserved.

This reservation is made by leaving empty areas in the image, so that the printing is omitted and the gold remains visible.

Final design of "La Asunción".

THE COLOR RESERVE

When it came to work, we were faced with the challenge of preserving the purity of the colors. Printing the design on a gold plate and not on a white background would distort the chosen colors. To solve this problem, it was necessary to apply a bed or first impression of white on the sheet in order to preserve the pure colors. For this purpose, a new channel was generated -apart from the CMYK channels- where we worked with white, black and gradients of these:

Thus,

Where the new channel is pure white, no white bed will be applied, -The desired effect of pure gold or the classic "corladura" in which the gold veers without losing its luster towards the overlapping print color, for example in the haloes, is achieved.

Where there is a transition from black to white, or flat grays, the application of the white bed will be proportional to this transition.This allows us to achieve gradients from color to gold that in the past could only be achieved by complex glazing processes.