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Hi fellas this was the first real paying glass job I have ever done. I have been making samples and pieces for my friends and I for the last 2.5 years when time will permit. I have a friend that is opening a classic old style Tattoo shop and wanted paint and real gold work done NO VYNULL! I did this job with the aid of a computer mask for sharp black outlines. Black was Japan lampost black mixed with Quick rubbing varnish, matte was quick rubbing and pale gold 18K to finishes her out. Everything went as planed but I do have a few questions.
the varnish for the matte centers set up and dryed before I could gold leaf, would this be the reason that in some fate areas the gold has a different sheen?
After backing up gold there was areas where the gold was on the black outline, is it better to backup right to the edge of the outline or try to get the left over gold off when cleaning the gold. I was scared I would have to scrub to hard over the backed up gold so I just applied another coat of backup to the outside edge on the black outline.
Is there a way to make the clear varnish more visible when brushing it in? It was very hard to see where it was as I was applying it?
All in all it was a very fun project and the client was super happy! Its one of the only real gold leafed windows in our downtown!
You might want to try using clear slow size next time or a mixture of clear slow size and clear fast size for your matte centers.
The Tattoo letters look big enough for you to have used a triple line mask for applying the black outline and the matte varnish without having to rely on your "Good Eye" to detect hard to see varnish when applying the matte varnish.
You might even want to consider poncing on some whiting over everything prior to applying the varnish. Someone else on this forum can elaborate more on that. Or you could do a forum search for additional information.
That is very nice job Arron. This type of gold work looks so classic , I have used Nazdars clear varnish for matt centres it holds up very well ,you can even wire wool it to get a more white finish it's the toughest for this kind of work. welldone mate..
Dave
Nice work, Aaron. It feels good to step back & look at it, huh?
As Dave recommended, if your varnish has dried, rough it up with 000 Steel Wool to give a nice, even matte finish. If you're trying to get it all done at once, use gold size (as Robare recommended) instead of varnish and it will hold it's tack. Experiment with it to see the best mixture and when it reaches a good tack.
One thing Rick Glawson suggested that helps with back-up is to wear a white shirt. You can more easily see the reflection from the black and where the varnish is going. I've also worn one of those bicycle head lamps which throws light right onto the surface as you work. (This is also useful when weeding tedious outlines.)
Robare mentioned putting an additional mask outline to use for your varnish outline. I usually prefer to brush the varnish since you don't get a hard masked edge, but I have also used the mask method for the vanish as well. If you do that you might try to keep the black from overlapping onto the outside edge of where the varnish outline will go. That way you don't reactive the black with the varnish and have to deal with black edges on the perimeter of the varnish.
One additional tip is to make a final "weeding" outline. That way when you're done you can just zip off this final outline and then remove your outside mask without fear of messing up what you've just painted.
You may have some more paying jobs come up now so give these things a try.
Dan
Dan "The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne." Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1340 - 1400)
Looks great man! It's funny, I've got my first paying gold job for a tattoo shop next week. If it comes out half this good, I'll be super happy. Great work!
Denver Chapter of the Letterheads