Gilding

coloring page not complete, shading on leaves,
the letter "S", and white work still needs to
be done

In between painting vines and acanthus leaves, we also learned how to gild with gold leaf. Yes, real 23 karat gold leaf. This is what I wanted to learn from this workshop. I've played with gilding either using faux foils or gilding on a base of PVA  (Elmer's glue). The results were okay, but half-assed.

Traditionally, gilding is done on a base of gesso. Gesso is a mixture of slaked plaster, binder (an animal glue, usually rabbit glue), chalk, and white pigment. It's difficult to mix and because of variables due to humidity, a very fussy process.

Instead of using gesso, we used a special goop called Instacoll. Diluted with water, the goop provides a slightly raised surface to gild on. The plus to using the Instacoll is even beginners can achieve good looking results.

The corners, background of the letter "S" and a bunch of dots were gilded using Instacoll and 23 karat patent gold leaf.

I thought gilding dots would be easy peasy. Turns out to be a little extra work. Note to self: next time, paint the damn dots.