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Loose-leaf Gold Leaf*
Red oxide acrylic paint
Slow-drying Gold size (specialty varnish) or water-based
quick-dry size
Very soft, dry brushes
Very soft, clean ragsâvelvet or silk are best
Before you gild:
Work in a draft-free area.
The gold leaf is thinner than tissue and will float away, bend back on itself, and wrinkle with the slightest breezeâincluding human breath. Make sure you are in an area of maximum stillness.
Prepare the surface.
Sand the object with fine-grit paper or steel wool so that the surface is as smooth as possible. Every bump and blemish will be magnified by the shiny gold leaf.
Paint the base coat.
Red oxide approximates the earth-red clay that was the traditional base for gold gilding. Other colors may be used for different effects, such as lemon yellow for a mellow gold or sap green for an aged, tarnished look. Your imagination is the only limit, but remember that the base color will show through in some areas.
Apply the gold size.
Brush the size onto the object with a clean varnishing brush. I like the slow-drying oil-based varnish, though the impatient artist may use a water-based quick-dry gold-leaf size. Just make sure before you start to note the “open” or workable time so that you have sufficient time to complete your project.
Check for the right “tack.”
Check size for tackiness by touching it with the back of your knuckle. You should not “sink” into the varnish at all; rather, when you pull your knuckle away, it should make an audible
tsk
ing sound, as though you were pulling away from Scotch tape. If there is no audible noise, the size is too dry. In this case, you can reapply the size and start again.
Applying the leaf:
Lift the leaf.
Refrain from touching the leaf with your fingers, which have oils that can mar the finish. Instead, try rubbing a large, flat brush on your clothing or against your cheek. As you pass the brush over the leaf, it should lift onto the brush through static electricity. Alternatively, you can gently hold the “book” of leaves over the object and let the leaf fall, blowing it gently into place.
Tears and wrinkles happen.
No need to worry. These slight imperfections add to the distressed look of the finish. During the burnishing process they will be smoothed out.
Tamp down gently.
Using a very soft bristled brush, tamp down gently if needed to fill crevices and dips in ornate trim.
Repair.
Reapply the leaf onto large “skips” or tears. The size should still be tacky enough to take the leaf; if not, dab on spots of size and wait until it is ready to receive the leaf, as described above.
Allow to dry thoroughly.
This could be several hours or overnight, depending on the size used.
Final Steps:
Burnish.
Using your silk or velvet rags, rub the gold into the surface, bringing out its luster and ridding the surface of extra leaf.
Distress.
If desired, the gilded surface may be distressed by using steel wool or a rough rag to wear off some of the metal leaf, allowing the color underneath to show through.
Protective Finish.
The whole object should be sealed with a clear or tinted varnish. To age the object, try using an amber varnish or tinting the varnish with artists' oil paint. For example, use burnt umber for an antiquing wash, whitish gray for a French “pickle” effect, or a green oxide for a tarnished look.
Hint:
Don't feel constricted to gold leaf. There are as many colors and types of metal leaf as there are metals, and then some: several different shades of gold, as well as silver, copper, aluminum, and composites in shades of pink, blue, and green. Check with your local art store or on the Internet for specialty suppliers.
*The price of genuine gold leaf fluctuates with the gold market, and is usually prohibitive for any but the smallest projects. “Composition” gold is an imitation metal that is slightly brassier than the real stuff, but by the time the leafing is burnished and distressed, no one will be able to tell the difference.
About the Author
Hailey Lind is the pseudonym of two sisters, one a historian in Virginia, the other an artist in California. Their identities are a closely guarded secret . . . unless someone really wants to know. They love to hear from readers:
www.haileylind.com
.
Look for Annie Kincaid's next adventure in the Art Lover's mystery series
Brush with Death
Coming from Signet in July 2007
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Working nights to restore murals in a building full of cremated remains is strange enough, but chasing a crypt-robbing ghoul through a graveyard is downright creepy. In
Brush With Death
, San Francisco artist Annie Kincaid finds herself drawn into a decades-old mystery involving some illustrious graveyard residents and Raphael's most intimate portrait, dubbed
La Fornarina
, or “the little baker girl.” Could the Raphael “copy” hanging amid funerary urns actually be the priceless original? Is the masked crypt-robber somehow connected to the Raphael? Or is the painting part of a larger puzzle involving Annie's unrepentant grandfather, master art forger Georges LeFleur, and an Italian “fakebuster” out to ruin him? Annie's under pressure to figure things out . . . before she finds her permanent home among the ashes.