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First gild job

Hand Lettering topics: Sign Making, Design, Fabrication, Letterheads, Sign Books.

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Lorenzo Petersson
Posts: 34
Joined: Fri Mar 23, 2012 12:11 pm

First gild job

Post by Lorenzo Petersson »

Hello!

Some time ago i did my first gilding for a pub/cafè, former employers giving me a chance to get out there on the market.
Below is the result, i was hoping i could get some feedback on it? Pictures might not be the best, i've got a good camera now and i'll be posting better shots asap.

One shot for the outlines and decoration (partially freehanded), varnish size, 2 layers of 23k transfer gold and one shot as backing.
I chose one shot for backing because it's whats available with around here and i've had good results with it in my trials, i'm looking into the option to order a few cans of the gilders backing enamel, hoping it's not too tricky and expensive to order it from overseas.
Same goes reason goes for the choice of transfer gold, it was what the store had in stock and the next order was going to be a long time. Took a chance, it acted nicely in the trials so i decided to put my faith in the god of gold not finding me a cheap cheater.
I got a nice and brilliant satin finish and only messed up one spot, was able to fix it, looks good enough but a trained eye is probably going to see it.

Thoughts?

Left window
Image

Right window
Image

[edited to add]

Forgot to mention that i sealed it up with spar varnish as mentioned in Kent Smiths book.
Last edited by Lorenzo Petersson on Sat Sep 07, 2013 9:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
Lee Littlewood
Posts: 228
Joined: Thu Apr 15, 2004 2:36 pm
Location: Portland, Oregon
Contact:

Re: First gild job

Post by Lee Littlewood »

Lorenzo,
It looks nice. Is the first letter 1Shot red with gold outline? Then the rest is gold letters with black o/l and shade?

Why 2 layers of gold leaf? If there were pinholes in the first layer, using silver or gold for the backup paint would hide them. Also, spinning the gold will hide a multitude of flaws as well as look cool...
where am i? Now, when i need me...
Lorenzo Petersson
Posts: 34
Joined: Fri Mar 23, 2012 12:11 pm

Re: First gild job

Post by Lorenzo Petersson »

Lee Littlewood wrote:Lorenzo,
It looks nice. Is the first letter 1Shot red with gold outline? Then the rest is gold letters with black o/l and shade?

Why 2 layers of gold leaf? If there were pinholes in the first layer, using silver or gold for the backup paint would hide them. Also, spinning the gold will hide a multitude of flaws as well as look cool...
Thanks Lee!
First letter is 1shot red with white outline and a small maroon shadow to give some depth to it, it's almost invisible but i couldnt help myself, i drew inspiration from early 20th century italian "torrone" candy logos and they had used a similar color combo with a shade inside the first letter, thought the style would fit the house.

Yeah with 2 layers i meant patching because of pretty large pinholes and what i guess was areas of size that were too thin, because some spots had absolutely no tack left when other places were still on the wet side, never happened to me before.
I checked and rechecked for holidays but this was just bad size handling i guess.
I'll try the gold paint backing out this week!

I'll try to get better pictures of the gild, these are no good at all.
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