Oil Gilding 2

STEP FOUR

Continue to apply gold to the entire object surface. You should not be too concerned with waste of the gold and should allow the pieces of gold to overlap sparingly. I would say that on decorative areas, you will easily use twice the amount of gold than the surface area. On smaller areas, or where there is a lot of recesses, cut the gold into smaller pieces. Continue doing this until the entire piece has been coated with the gold leaf.

STEP FIVE

Now that the piece is covered in gold (and looking like the picture on the left) it is time to skew it. This involves lightly brushing the gilders mop over the surface, to remove any excess gold. The generosity of overlapping will really pay off here because this process will also push the excess flakes into the crevices and hollows of the piece and will fill in any gaps in the work. Do this in a light circular motion. Take care that the bristles do not come out of the brush and stick to the size. I usually place large pieces of gold in various areas as added extra filling, ensuring complete coverage.

STEP SIX

At this point you should be finished! If there are any gaps in the piece (perhaps where there is a missed spot of size) you should go over with a thin artists brush and spot gild these areas with the same techniques used. You must always be careful with the gilded surface as the size doesn’t ever truly dry because it can’t get into contact with the air through the gold, so to some degree it can be scraped off. However, after a few days it will be quite firm and should be able to be handled carefully. 

HAVE FUN!