In the past I've tried to surface gild over fresh enamel while leaving the paint mask on for quick size and gilding. It works OK, leaves the background really clean but doesn't live up to close scrutiny. The gild is uneven up close. Then I tried the real way of putting down whiting and hand lettering slow size which was very rewarding.
Lastly I needed to do a gold leaf Open/Closed sign very quickly with really small customer supplied script on it. For this I put down whiting first, and then put down a mask over the whiting, quick sized it and then pulled the mask. I gilded over what turned out to be a thin film of whiting and it worked quite well. It seemed to be a true mixture of new and old techniques. Has anyone tried this before, or have insight into this way of doing it?
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This is an interactive Bulletin Board on the topics of Sign making, design, fabrication, History, old Books and of coarse Letterheads, Keepers of the craft. The Hand Lettering Forum features links to resources, sign art history, techniques, and artists profiles. Learn more about Letterheads at https://theletterheads.com. Below you'll see Mchat has been added as a live communication portal for trial, and the Main forum Links are listed below.
This is an interactive Bulletin Board on the topics of Sign making, design, fabrication, History, old Books and of coarse Letterheads, Keepers of the craft. The Hand Lettering Forum features links to resources, sign art history, techniques, and artists profiles. Learn more about Letterheads at https://theletterheads.com. Below you'll see Mchat has been added as a live communication portal for trial, and the Main forum Links are listed below.
Surface gilding "the new way"
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Steven Vigeant
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- Joined: Fri Jun 04, 2004 12:07 am
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DAVE SMITH
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Hi Steven.
Are you using transfer leaf or loose? With the mask technique I like using an airbrush and then peeling up the mask after gilding with loose gold. comes out very clean with hardly a ridge, but you can'nt beat the traditional way of marking out your text ,pounce your whiting on and then signwriting.
Dave
Are you using transfer leaf or loose? With the mask technique I like using an airbrush and then peeling up the mask after gilding with loose gold. comes out very clean with hardly a ridge, but you can'nt beat the traditional way of marking out your text ,pounce your whiting on and then signwriting.
Dave
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Kent Smith
- Posts: 569
- Joined: Fri Dec 31, 2004 6:41 pm
- Location: Estes Park, CO
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Relatively speaking there is nothing new in gilding, just variations on the process. When using maskants, I prefer to pull up the mask after sizing, before gilding. This allows the size to settle down, slightly rounding down the edge so it is not as sharp a ridge. When you lay down the gold, it will stick to the edge so that open size around the ridge is gilded. I have always advocated using technology whenever appropriate to make the process of production more practical and profitable.
I agree with Dave though, the most practical technique is often handlettering. Masking for basic text on surface work is often more time consuming and the end result is too mechanical. For those of use who still hand letter, the choice is also one of self-satisfaction. Even with that satisfaction the bottom line is the bottom line. Get the job done efficently and collect.
I agree with Dave though, the most practical technique is often handlettering. Masking for basic text on surface work is often more time consuming and the end result is too mechanical. For those of use who still hand letter, the choice is also one of self-satisfaction. Even with that satisfaction the bottom line is the bottom line. Get the job done efficently and collect.
Denver Chapter of the Letterheads