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| Water Gilding Workshop Update! |
Traditional Water Gilding
November 19, 20, 21
Last Water Gilding Workshop for 2010
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(Enrollment: Maximum 4 Students)
Register Below
or visit: www.gildingstudio.com
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Dear Friends...A brief greeting before moving on to the questions of protective coatings and the use of toning mediums for gilded objects!
I do want to wish everyone a happy Fall as we will soon begin the remaining couple of months of 2010. Hopefully some of you will be able to attend the upcoming water gilding workshop in November which will be here before we know it.
October's class was a wonderful journey as we immersed ourselves in the practice of traditional water gilding which ended with a field trip to the Seattle Art Museum. I always find it beneficial for those who have been spending a concentrated amount of time learning about all that goes into a water gilded object to step away and view, in this case, a wide selection of frames and icons that span seven centuries. When we return to our project frames later in the afternoon there is always a renewed appreciation and greater understanding of creating a beautiful water gilded surface.
And with that I wish you a joyful time of what remains of October ...and Happy Halloween!
~Charles
 | | Outside the studio for lunch, meditation, conversation. |
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Ask The Gilder...
| | Questions submitted by our members and others from around the Artworld...
Q. In a recent newsletter you talked about toning the
frames down by using an airbrush and shellac. I've done that and like the effect of spraying rather than padding which sometimes streaks. Could you tell
me how you cut the gloss of the shellac? I have some overspray since I'm fairly new to using an airbrush. I've tried some rottenstone with mineral oil as a
lubricant and also just some 4/0 steel wool. Appreciate any advice you can give.
John, Nevada
A. The best and safest way to cut the sheen of shellac on a gilded surface is to use a little rottenstone on a piece of cheesecloth and buff rather vigorously. Rottenstone, which can sometimes be found in hardware stores or paint stores and definitely with your gilding suppliers, adds a nice dusting to a gilded surface and will reduce the glare you mention. Rottenstone and cheescloth are very soft so the shellaced gilding usually can withstand the buffing without any problem. For corners of picture frames I sometimes use a stiff bristle brush and pumice powder to buff-out in a swirling motion those hard to reach areas. Be careful but it works like a charm!
As a summary of toning, there are a number of ways to tone leaf. If you're working with water gilding then you can start by gently rubbing through the gold or silver leaf with either oooo steel wool or by making a paste with whiting and ethyl or denatured alcohol (let it dry for a minute and wipe off the dry residue). If you're dealing with oil gilded leaf, then just use the steel wool, fine/med/or coarse, since the alcohol/whiting paste will have no effect and could ruin the gild if it interfered with the underlying oil size.
For toning, first coat the gilded object with clear shellac so you can add the toning materials over a protected gild. Let dry overnight and tone the next day with umber casein thinned with water. Let it dry, allowing it to pool in crevices. A ball of cheesecloth can be used to tamp it to remove any unwanted puddles. You can also mix in a little rottenstone to this wash. You can use this on either water or oil gilded leaf but make sure the gilding is first coated with a protective layer of shellac.
Tinted shellacs I use fairly often. Clear shellac or ruby, mixed with umber, raw sienna, and a smidgen of french ultramarine blue pigments offers a nice, earthy, umber tone (disperse pigments first in a little ethyl or denatured alcohol then add the shellac, stir then strain a few times through cheesecloth). Air brushing works great. When dry, buff with dry rottenstone on a piece of cheesecloth.
Shellac is best made from flakes and ethyl alcohol (denatured if you can't get the ethyl) as the shelf life is short, so this way you know you have the freshest of materials. Plus, the blond variety is dewaxed. Wax may be present in the store bought shellac and can actually interfere with the protective characteristics of shellac which is detrimental if you are hoping to prevent oxidization of other metal leafs that tarnish such as brass (composition gold which is imitation leaf), genuine silver, or white gold.
I've used the pigment in wax approach too but I really don't need to, considering the above. Plus I'd rather not have something that will attract dirt.
There are other materials and colors that can offer a range of patinas on gilded finishes but the above recipes and similar variations are used quite often and simulate age quite well.
Hope this is of some help.
Q. I am professional furniture finisher from Iran and also a gilder. I love my job and wish to be the best in my field but there are some problems which l have not managed to overcome yet which I hope you can help me with. I wish to reach a level of brilliant, pure looking gold or silver leaf but I have to compromise on its beauty for its protection.
I coat the gilded area with a layer of 'p.u. clear' to protect it from wear and tear, water and other effects but as soon as I apply the clear gloss it looses it's brilliancy and looks like plastic! My question is: how can I seal and protect the gilding and save it's metal looking appearance simultaneously? I want both beauty and durabality. What is the solution?
Vahid, Iran
A. An excellent question, one which all who gild likely ask at one time or another, so you are not alone. It is true, any topcoat applied to gold leaf will change the appearance to some degree, some more than others.
I imagine that the "p.u. clear" that you refer to is polyurethane which I find is a coating that changes the beauty of gilding the most. It's very 'plasticy' in the way it makes gold leaf look, although it does provide very good protection, especially if a gilded frame needs to be placed in a bathroom where fluctuating humidity is resent.
There are a number of alternatives to choose from, depending in part on the desired look. To maintain the beautiful brilliancy of water gilded gold or silver leaf, I find a good quality Clear Gloss Lacquer to offer the clearest protection of all. Although I am unsure of the product selection you have available to you, I use a lacquer called "Deft Clear Wood Finish" which can be bought by the can to brush on or sprayed from a spray can.
The topcoat I use almost exclusively, however, is clear, blonde dewaxed Shellac. Shellac itself is not toxic but the alcohol that is used to dissolve the shellac flakes, is. But I find it to be the least toxic of the chemicals one might use. I also find it dries quite clear and adds a warm glow to the gold that allows the color of the leaf to shine without being glaring. This is a matter of taste of course so you might want to try both to decide which will work for you. My guess is the lacquer will allow you to retain the most brilliancy in your gilded leaf.
Please bear in mind that the topcoat you use needs to be compatible with the type of gilding you use. Shellac is good for both water gilding and oil gilding. Lacquer, however, can only be used with water gilding. It's possible to use shellac as an isolating coat between the leaf and lacquer, but as a rule of thumb, don't use lacquer on oil gilding as it will crackle the gilding and ruin your project since the lacquer is too 'hot' for the underlying oil size.
The polyurethanes, both oil and water based, may be used on either water or oil gilding. Out of these, the waterbased gloss urethane is the clearest.
Shellac can be applied with a brush, sprayed through an airbrush, or with a pad made out of a clean, soft cotton rag in a similar way as french polishing which gives a nice appearance on surfaces where a pad is appropriate to use. Plus it's very quick and leaves no brush marks. The start and stopping point needs to be well thought-out first to avoid forming 'ridges' due to overlaps, but this form of application is very beneficial in many situations.
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Gold Leaf Gilding
Workshops
2010 Winter Schedule
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3 Day Workshop Traditional Water Gilding
November 19, 20, 21
An intensive hands-on class that will take you through each step of this ancient craft,
from preparing gesso and
clay bole grounds to laying
and burnishing genuine 23k gold leaf
Registration
$600.00
Includes gold leaf and all materials,
use of all gilding tools, and
Museum Field Trip
Register Early!
Class Size limited to 4 Students
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November 19, 20, 21
 Location:
Charles Douglas Gilding Studio
Gasworks Gallery Building
3815 4th Avenue NE (off N. Northlake)
Seattle, WA 98105To Register by Mail: Click Here to download the Registration Form (PDF).
Need to download Adobe Reader? (Click Here) |
Glass Gilding:
Creating Gilded Glass Mirrors
as based on
The Art of Verre Églomisé
1-Day Workshop
Coming in 2011! |
Back Issues of
The Gilding Arts Newsletter
Now Available Online! | |  New Member? Missed an Issue?
The Gilding Arts Newsletter periodically publishes technical information concerning the various methods of gold leaf gilding. Some of these topics are in series formats such as the current series on Traditional Water Gilding.
As a new benefit to Newsletter Members, all Newsletters are now available online in an Archived format. Simply go to the www.gildingstudio.com website. The Gilding Arts Newsletter can be found on the left-hand side navigation bar. The ARCHIVE Link can be found at the top of the page.
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