The colour of the haloes and the table

The colour is a mixture of titanium white, a point of yellow ochre and a touch of ultramarine blue. Add a lot of water to the mixture. The puddle must be transparent and light.

The highlighting of the white layers

Off-white haloes will be highlighted with pure titanium white around the heads to accentuate the presence of the angels. The surface of this highlight covers a third of the haloes' width and disappears gradually towards the exterior part of the haloes. To do this, add more and more water and egg to the mixture when floating.

Apply a titanium white puddle also on the table, away from the elements surrounding it (clothes, hands) and from the cup.

The ribbons

The drawing of the ribbons - hardly perceptible on the original - was done with burnt Siena. Give movement to the ribbons varying the thickness of the lines.

The last highlight strokes on the garments

Being near the end of the painting, it is necessary to take some distance from the picture, to evaluate the relative intensity of the highlights on each part of the icon and to apply the final white strokes on the clothes. Titanium white is the base of these lines but it must be mixed with a little bit of the local color - blue or green in this case. In this step we have to achieve well balanced and harmonious highlights all over the icon.

It is also necessary to take into account that the force of the white pigments decreases slightly over time and that the olifa contributes greatly in this process.