Gilding Pointers
By Joan Kamaru
It's been brought to my attention that I've written nought about my own experience with Gilding. So here goes..
I first learned Gilding from a furniture restorer. He had his own perception of available products and that was to make his own. His formulas died along with him unfortunately, but he did give me one bit of advice and that was to use shellac if other materials were unavailable.
Shellac? Crikey. Well you might not find that in the books! I first prepare the surface of whatever I'm gilding with the appropriate care. This preparation can vary as sometimes a rough appearance is required for a certain look.
Gilding Plaster
So I start off with a clean surface. Plastershould not be sand papered if at all possible. If you sand plaster you will destroy the carefully created cast. Some of the tiny holes will fill up with paint anyway. Some of the holes can be filled in by rubbing a little dampened plaster dust into them. Mostly though tiny holes are a part of plasterwork. Gilding will cover 99% of any imperfections. The edges of cast plaster might need cleaning up. It depends on whether the cast was over poured. Poke out any bit of over poured plaster with the end of a paintbrush or clean stick. If you do this often collect the sticks etc for further use. It saves time looking for the right tools every job. Fibres aresometimes is annoying to remove. Clip off with scissors; I've even burnt them off.
I seal the plaster and deliverat least 3coats of a good quality acrylic paintto build upa skin. The skin to me is what I'm actually gilding on and it has to be substancial to hold and keep a decorative treatment. The first coat will have a bit of tint added to it. Not much is needed, just enough that when the next coat is applied there is a noticeable difference. This way you can be 100% sure your coat is complete. I mostly work on a white background but you may use other colours if there is a purpose to it. So as in different types or grades of paperand canvas, I create various skins. Each SKIN serves a different treatment.This is done byapplying the last two coatings:Gloss will deflect, Satin will take in and Matt will absorb the next Process. Here again, two coats are best. The first coat holds the secondcoat in place. If at all possible a third is ideal, but time and money come into play here.
If the plaster is a piece that is likely to touched as say a mantle piece or a corbel, I would make sure my skin will stand up to traffic by adding an extra coat or two. It really doesn't help if you create a pretty thing that falls apart two weeks after installing or worse - falls apart in the Plasterers hands! Yikes. Read your instructions on the container the paint comes in. As a matter of fact read all product information the first time you use it or if after a long time between usages. Duspec is a great way to have all the information you might require.
This is where drying times and the light sanding you must carry out between each new coat of paintall come into their importance. If you don't allow each coat to dry and cure,they will all be drying at different rates and will move so as to create cracks and peeling at a later date. Not good! Also you must always use the very best quality productsthat your customer (or you!)can afford or what is available. Equate this part of the process to the foundations of a building. If you want it to last- use good materials and workmanship.
Start with small and easy Projects. Gilding is really fun but if you have a valuable bit of furniture or a frame for an impressive painting get a professional! Sometimes DIY projects come out just fine and other timeslooking exactly like it was a DIY!
So okay back to gilding. There are a zillion books and videos. There are a zillion products. I think they are all great and believe me, I look at and read every source I can, BUT, I use shellac. When I started out there was very little money available for all these bottles of this and that. I was pulling my hair out. I couldn't even dream of the beautiful brushes that cost 3 arms and my aunt’s legs.
My mentor finally gave in and told me his secrets. Well, some of them! Now I am a forward thinking kind of Gal and have used all kinds of paint and every colour for the Base. Tradition is a somberred and that's cool but there are all kinds effects available by using adifferent base colour. Sometimes I use gold! That's for two reasons - there might be a shortage of leaf and a gold base helps hide thata little bit - and more important, I think it gives a richer finish. I use two coats here to make sure the colour is even and to give the best finish. Every coat I put down is accomplished with great care. As a coat dries you can find there are bits you can't see- bits you missed - bits of 'stuff' and hairs. I use my brush to remove the bits and hairs. Wipe any excess off your brush and ever so gently touch the 'bit' with the edge or tipof the brush. It will most often lift off. If you use a finger to wipethe outcome is usually poor and a whole recoat might be in order. Everyone I know who gilds has their own style and preferred methods. Your own style will develop out of practice and experimenting. When you find the right mix for you, it will just flow and your work will be very attractive because of it.
Depending on the colour of the Base, I might use a water base glue or acrylic product to adhere the leaf. Be flexible in your approach and you can then have a multitude of beautiful designs available to decorate with.
(If you want traditional gilding, there are training schools where Masters will train you in all the time honored methods.)
So, you've got a primed skin (a coloured prepared surface), leaf and brushes etc. Now if you prefer all the other methods traditionally written about - stop reading now! I use Shellac and mentholated spirits. At this point I will say that a beautiful big round and full sable brush is a pure delight to use. However, I have ruined too many brushes in my time by forgetting them and finding them stuck badly in a jar of dry shellac.So until this day I use MAKEUP BRUSHES MADE IN CHINA. You know the 3 brushes you can get in a pack at the $2 dollar Shop. Or even a $10 one from the Chemist.In fact, before companies came out with Pearl paint I used to painfully make my own with eye shadow (the powdered pearl).The big fluffybrush used to put blush on with is great for smoothing leaf over a surface. So there.If you are using a NEW BRUSH, make sure that you open it out and remove all loose hairs. No matter how excellent a brush is they are all treated with stuff tohelp them keep their shape and you need to release this by rinsing in water. I'm not real sure what they use, it is probably starch or something similar. Regardless, for the brush to be working well for you make sure it is as clean as you can get it.
The mixture of shellac is half science and half art. There are many kinds of shellac too. Some are readily available and cheap, others can be rare and of considerable expense. I use the orange shellac most often. Shake some shellac flakes(a fifth of the jar to start)into the bottom of alarge jar (a big coffee jar is a good size)and pour overthe meths. Now do the same with another jar but use much more Shellac flakes. Give it a shake and let it stand until all the flakes have melted. I usually strain the mixture through pantyhose or any fine material to remove any foreign objects. Now here is the tricky bit. The two mixtures you've made need to mix together in a third jar to makethe mix with the right viscosity (thickness). This preparation is still necessary if you buy it ready made. You will still have to fool around with it until it is right for you.
What I do is to lay a small area down, no larger than the size of two or three sheets of whatever size leaf you are using. Why? Because the mentholated spiritsevaporate quickly and the stickiness soon disappears. Let this bit dry. Why? You will now lay another coat down on the first. Why? The first coat will not hold your leaf with any surety. It will possibly be patchy at best and give you a headache. If you try to coat a large are it will most likely stuff up. If the shellac is too thick it won't dry quickly enough and if it is too thin it won't hold at all. After a lot of practice you will just know. When the second coat melts into the first and becomes tacky you can lay your leaf.
I didn't mention your workplace. If at all possible have a room that will not be disturbed with people passing through or opening your door or even moving around. Ventilation is imperative as the metho fumes will get to you and leave a huge headache with you if care is not taken.A large room is better than a small one.That also means you need to leave the work area for a fresh breath of air every while.Close all windows and doors. I even place a rag under the door to stop drafts. Even the tiniest draft will catch your leaf and flutter it at the most inopportune moment creating a ripple you just don't need. It is a fight against wrinkles - every gilders enemy!
Laying leaf. My suggestion to you is to have a look at some of great videos and instruction sites I have made available. They go into great detail and I feel that I couldn't add too much info in that area of gilding. Like a whole lot of other arts and crafts it really is about doing it. I keep a damp cloth or sponge ready to dampen my index finger prior to gingerly picking up a sheet of leaf. I use the biggest makeup brush to very gently smooth down the leaf. I use the next (middle size) brush for the shellac. I use the small size (eye shadow size) for poking the leaf into cracks and crevices. Bubbles happen and can be pricked with a needle prior to very gently flattening down. If your shellac is too thick you will find out here because the leaf will move around on the skin instead of sticking nicely. If the shellac is too thin you willfind out herewhen the leaf flies off the skin as you remove the excess leaf (with another clean big size brush). Have a stack of these brushes. They can all be cleaned later with meths and used over and over again. Even if you forget and leave them in a jar of shellac, they can be rescued by adding a lot of meths and left to soften. This takes ages, but what the hey.
Once you have laid your leaf, cleaned off the excess by twilling a bib brush lightly over the service. All the excess will flick or tear off. If your shellac is too thick and hasn't dried, you will find it will wrinkle up and look horrible- leave it to dry and try (test) again later. Leave it overnight if possible. Leave it for a few days if you can, that's even better. Once it is dry you can then apply all manner of glazes. Commercially made products are great because they take all the guessing out of the process. If you make your own, the only thing I can say is try to make it to some kind of formula (record your formula including the name of products used)so that it can be replicated at another later date. Also, if it is possible, make a large quantity. If you run out half way betweenfinishing a project I guarantee it will notlook the best.
So imagine a cobalt blue base gilded with a bright faux gold leaf and antiqued with a midnight blue glaze. You can decide exactly how much of the base you want to show. Cracking the leaf is one way as is taking a scouring thing or rough sandpaper and carefully grazing the leaf to expose the coloured base.
Or you can just spray or paint a coat of clear enamel or acrylic product. If you are spray enameling, there are various finishes to choose i.e. matt, satin or gloss. I would give itat least two coats.
Glazes - my only hint here is to have as many clean rags of varying types of cloth available. Paper towels are good as are sponges. I have BAGS of all this stuff and take every bit of care of my rags, sticks andsponges as Ido with my most expensive brushes. As a decorative painter I employ all manner of articles to create my designs.
I clean the room, dusting surfaces and sweeping the floor. After you have removed the excess leaf it is up to you what you do with the bits. I keep the larger pieces for patching and the small and tiny bits for adding to glazes etc. If you haven't cleaned first most of this stuff will be too grubby to use anywhere. I collect it alland keep it in little bottles like glitter and in cigar boxes for the bigger ones. Actually I keep the newleaf in the cigar boxes as they are the right size and keep the leaf safe. Long live dust busters.
I believe that I have covered much of what I do here in this Article. Please do not pass up the opportunity to learn all that you can from every source available to youand dohave a look at the LINKS I have provided for you below. Most Libraries will have a Books and Videos on Gildingthat you can borrow.
At some time I will add a proper Glossary of Gilding Terms for you.
If you have a favorite Link, please share it by contacting us. If you are a Gilder and want to publish your Article, please submit to usas everyone has something to offer.