I saw my first example of gold leaf painting hanging in the workshop of a friend of mine; he had used it with great effect as a background to a setting sun.
Using gold leaf in painting does not simply mean laying the leaf on top of the paint, I use various coloured glazes on top of the leaf and the light reflects in these areas in a way it would not with simply a coloured paint.
Using gold leaf, or imitation gold leaf in painting really does open up a whole new array of effects.
For example I mentioned the use of various coloured glazes, which can be rubbed right back if needed as the paint takes a while to dry on top of the leaf. I have found that a very nice effect can be obtained by using burnt umber as a glaze, and rubbing it right back, it creates great atmosphere.
A favourite gold leaf painting of mine takes the form of a large abstract wall panel.
I first of all seal the wooden panel I am working on, this seal can take the form of a coat or two of shellac, or a coat of Armenian bole, which is a finely ground red ochre pigment, this pigment produces an authentic coloured base upon which to lay the leaf.
The effect of natural aging can be emulated by allowing small parts of the red base coat to show through.
After the wood has been sealed and has dried it is then time to lay the imitation gold leaf.
You need an adhesive in order to get the leaf to stick to the wooden panel; this adhesive is called a size. I have always used shellac as a size, but many people use an oil based size, it is a question of what you were bought up with.
Shellac does dry quite quickly, so I treat 1 square foot at a time, I brush on the size and give it a minute to become tacky. The leaf has to be applied by the sheet. There is no getting away from the fact that you do need to understand how to handle gold leaf. I use a wad of cotton wool with a small amount of Vaseline on it.
The leaf sticks to the slightly sticky surface; the leaf is then transferred to the panel where it sticks to the stickier size.
You leave everything to dry thoroughly, brush of the loose gold leaf, then seal the leaf with shellac or a clear oil based varnish, I much prefer shellac for this as blonde de waxed shellac has a lovely golden yellow tint which enhances the colour of the leaf.
There are several other finishes which can be applied over gold leaf which concern aging and distressed finishes, such as the crackle glaze.
For twenty five years my wife and I ran a system of craft workshops in Somerset, England. In 1995 the workshops were nominated a National Living Treasure, for the workshops contribution to the Book Arts.
As well as bookbinding, paper marbling and craft printing, the workshops possessed several ancillary skills including gilding and silver smithing.
www.gold-vault.com
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