Tutorial Videos

Start your gilding project! We have instructional videos where the application of metal leaf is described step by step in general or specific article. Anyone can perform with or without any experience.

STEP 1 : PREPARATION OF SURFACES

This step varies according to the composition and condition of the picture frame surface you will be gilding. It is the important phase.

Wood Picture Frames

New picture frames (without any type of sealer or paint)

If needed, use wood filler to repair small nicks, holes, or flaws in the wood surface. Once the fillers is dry, you can use sandpaper to remove any excess filler that may remain on the wood surface.

Sand the wood with sandpaper:

A first sanding with 100# to 120#-grit sandpaper will smooth a raised grain or eliminate any leftover finish.

A second sanding, using 150# to 180#-grit sandpaper, follow-up with 220#-grit sandpaper until the surface feels super smooth (sanding with 220#-grit is optional)

Use a rag cloth to remove any loose dirt, small debris and grit on the wood surface, now the wood surface is ready to seal.

Renovate picture frames (varnish-lacquer or paint on the surface in good condition)

Polish the lacquer surface with sandpaper: A first polish-sanding with a 0# or 00#grit steel wool pad or 220#-320#grit sandpaper to remove shine layer, until the surface feels super smooth.

Use a rag cloth to remove any loose dirt, small debris and grit on the wood surface, now the wood surface is ready to seal.

Restore picture frames (damaged surface)

Thoroughly remove old finishes coat of paint. With 60#-grit to 80#-grit sandpaper or with commercial preparations for removing old finishes paint from wood surfaces (available today at hardware or paint store).

If needed, use wood filler to repair small nicks, holes, or flaws in the wood surface. Once the fillers is dry, you can use sandpaper to remove any excess filler that may remain on the wood surface.

Sand the wood with sandpaper: A first sanding with 100# to 120#-grit sandpaper will smooth a raised grain or eliminate any leftover finish.

A second sanding, using 150# to 180#-grit sandpaper, follow-up with 220#-grit sandpaper until the surface feels super smooth (sanding with 220#-grit is optional).

The broken outer ornaments can be repaired and replaced or remove the ornaments from the frame.

STEP 2 : SEAL THE SURFACE & FINAL FINISHED EFFECT

These step has two purpose:

1. Obtain an effect on the final finished
2. Seal and restore the frame surface

This step varies according to the final finished effect of the picture frame you will be gilding. It is the most important phase of any project.

You should use wood primer with color  (Red Ochre, Yellow Ochre and Black ) or metallic paint (Gold and Silver).

Antique, distress and old finishes

To get antique, distress or look old finishes, you should apply primer red ochre or black based coat.

Gold and silver finished

To get gold or silver final finished effect, without faults or cracks, the last base coat you should apply metallic paint. Their come in commercial metallic spray paint are available at paint or hardware store. Also you can use yellow ochre paint or gray paint colors. You may also mix bronze powder or aluminum powder with a varnish or lacquer to make your own metallic paints. (Step 6)

Apply the first primer  based-coat on the surface. The type of product (water or oil-based), depends on the final treatment you are creating. The first paint based-coat must dry several hours or overnight.

Before any second based-coats of primer are applied, the preliminary coating is sanded. This is done both to remove any dust or foreign particles that may have settled on the wet paint and to reduce the differing levels of the brush strokes and for eliminating waves in the paint surface. Before the surface has been sanded, it feels slightly gritty; after sanding, it feels satin smooth. The work is done with #220 grit sand-paper or steel wool  #2 grit even.

They should be sanded further. If the grain and cracks of the wood itself is still apparent, a pasta mixture or filler is applied to the surface again. The filling must of course dry and be sanded smoothly with sandpaper or steel wool before the next application of paint.

Step Optional: This third coat of paint are applied, must also dry, be sanded from #220 to 320 grit or #0 to #00 steel wool as described before. Many coats of paint-each well sanded-confer a handsome body to the piece. “Body” implies paint of such thickness and depth that it integrates with the piece. Three to four coats are required to achieve this. People instinctively feel a beautiful piece of furniture, unconsciously seeking the pleasure of the tactile sensation induced by the depth of the paint body and the smoothness of its surface.

Final step process

To obtain final process of this step you must apply a clear paint on the last base coat, you can use varnish, lacquer, sealer, polyurethane or clear (water or oil based). Now the surface is ready to apply Tallo adhesive size (next step 3).

STEP 3: APPLY THE ADHESIVE SIZE

Tools

• Nitrile or latex gloves
• Paint brush or camel brush

Surface application

Application of adhesive-size to a picture frame is more readily accomplished with a cotton wool, paint brush or camel-hair brush of suitable proportions.

The object is to cover the surface with the thinnest possible film, avoid adhesive size excess, drops, bubbles and squirt. A brush is essential for carvings in order to reach deep into the interstices, molding or applied design.

Gilder’s tip A: for the adhesive to slide smoothly on the surface and get thinnest film: dilute adhesive size with water in a bowl (from 90% to 80% adhesive size– to 10%-20% water.)

Gilder’s tip B (optional): help to get a “thin film surface” and “removes adhesive size excess, drops, bubbles and squirt”, for creates a better finished product.

Dilute adhesive size with water in a bowl (from 70%-60% adhesive size – to 30%-40% water).  

Used a cotton wool, wet a cloth and squeeze.

You will need work fast, after the surface has been covered, it is worked over again, wet a cloth and squeeze it, then remove the first layer of adhesive size, gently and one way directions in order to get super thin film surface, Wet and squeeze the cloth as often as necessary.

After the surface has been covered wait for it to become tacky, or reaches tack 30 minutes before applying the leaf. It will remain tacky for several hours before it dries completely and loses tack.

Experienced gilders advise that applying the leaf 2 hours after for best result. They also believe the adhesive size that takes the longest to reach tack creates a better finished product.

Tallo water adhesive size become tacky in 30 minutes and remains tacky for 30 hours. Weather can affect the time it takes for any adhesive size to become tacky, so take into account humid and dry condition.

STEP 4: LAY THE LEAF

Tools:

• Cotton Gloves
• Cotton Wool
• Cleaning brush (skewing scrap)
• Gilding brush
• Pick-up leaf tool

Pick-up leaf tips

Tip A) Pick-up tools: put one “pick-up leaf tool” on the upstairs leaf to about 2 inches distance of the edge and with the other “pick-up leaf tool” hold dawn the side leaf below and blow gently on the upstairs leaf edge and repeat the process on the other side (use the side where you can see the sheet that is below).

Gilding on flat picture frame surfaces

Lay the leaf on to the sized area, slide and gently press into place with pick-up tool. Proceeding from left to right, each overlapping the preceding one by about 1/2”; the overlap must all be in the same direction. The process is repeated until the surface is covered. Small faults are ignored as they can be remedied with “skewing” (the remaining particles of leaf resulting from the overlaps these are called skewings).

The object to be leafed is placed on a box lid or a piece of carpet or foot mat.

Gilding on carved, curves, angles, molding and ornaments surfaces

Once layer of leaf is placed on the area with just enough pressure to secure it, a second layer is now placed on top of the first one; finally are firmly pushed wherever necessary with a gilding-brush and cotton-wool, since the second layer of leaf and the skewing fill in all the breaks caused by the multi—level surface.

You may need more than one or two layer of leaf to cover the curves, angles, and crevices of these objects.

The beginner should not be dismayed by fault—even a master does not avoid them! When faults are impossible to reach, that is the moment for gold or silver powder or yellow ochre or gray based primer to come to the rescue.

You may notice that small cracks occur during the leafing process and expose the based primer with color underneath the leaf. You can leave these “faults” if they give you the desired look you want for your finished project.

Wait a few minutes or hour before proceeding to Step 5, to allow the adhesive-size to dry slightly or lower the adhesive-size strength.

STEP 5  REMOVES EXCESS LEAF SURFACE

Material: Gilding Wax

Tools:

• Cotton Gloves
• Cotton wool
• Cleaning-brush

Rub the gilded area

With cotton wool, gently tamp the leaf in to place, and raised areas and start rubbing to removes the excess leaf residues, always in the direction of the overlap to prevent the leaf from tearing, also you can use cleaning brush to remove any loose leaf or skewings. (Scrap leaf left over from this step, these are called skewings).

It is important that these instructions be followed to the letter, the edges of skewing be pulled away at the joining. Being careful to prevent the cotton wool (tamper) from touching exposed spots that retain the adhesive size (for this would smear the leaf already laid), for filling small faults, cracks and holidays, the skewing are brushed to the faults and firmly pressed in with the cotton wool or cotton glove. Confirm that no portion coated with adhesive size remains uncovered.

Seal with a wax

Add small quantity of wax to cotton wool and when impregnate the wax cotton wool through, start polishing the gilded areas. The surface can be buffed up with other clean cotton wool.

Wax is used as polish to remove leaf joints, for burnish and seal gilded surface to prevent damage when applying commercial preparations of water or oil-based, next step 6 & 7.

Burnish is used to describe polishing of gold and silver leaf with a tool and cotton wool. After the burnishing, the gilded area has greater brilliance and its tonal value is deeper than that of mat gold or mat silver; in these respects the leaf has become similar in appearance to polished ore. Because of its delicacy, true leaf adapts to every irregularity of the surface. Accordingly, a mirror gleam is achieved by burnishing and if the surface is rough and craggy the burnished increases the plate of reflection, creating more light, better quality and brilliance.

STEP 6: DISTRESS, ANTIQUE & CONTEMPORARY FINISHES

You can finishes or enhance the picture frames for multitude of special effects. This step is optional and depends on your concept of this finished project. You can make the picture frame leaf look older, real leaf, tone down the shining, fashionable, overpaint it, or add surface decorations.

Antique Finishes

The easiest way to get an antique look is to leave the fault that show the based coat primer underneath the leaf, you can intentionally create cracks as you lay the leaf or apply commercial preparations. Also you can dip some steel wool pad into a little methyl alcohol and rub gently over the gilding surface to remove a little of the leaf or dip cotton wool ball into a little solvent, thinner or gasoline and rub gently as you lay (joints) the leaf to create a stripe cracks faults on the surface.

A traditional easy way to antique a surface it is to use “wood stains”. These oil-based stains come in a variety of wood tones and are available at paint or hardware store. Use a rag to apply the stains to your gilding surface, then wiper off the excess.

You can make your colors tones stains, with “universal tinting colorants” for tinting solvent thinned,  oil paints or for tinting acrylic, vinyl paints, which is readily available in paint store.

The earth color are: Raw umber, Burnt umber, Raw sienna, Burnt sienna, Yellow ochre, Lampblack, Van Dyke Brown, Titanium White, Phthalo Green, Light green, Red, Phthalo blue.

Use a rag to apply the stains to your gilding surface, then wiper off the excess. An also you can use the wood stains to tone down the shining the gold or silver finish.

You may want to look in your paint store for commercial preparations for antiquing or other effects. You can fine products that create a copper verdigris finish, for instance. There are also antique glazes or mediums available at craft supply shop. You can find a crackle varnish in paint or craft supply stores which produces the results its name implies; when applied, it creates a crackled surface.

Artist’s oil colors can be used to shade areas of your surface for an antique effect. Use a rag to apply the color where you want it on the gilded surface (in the fault, for instance), then wipe off the excess, you may want to thin the paint with linseed oil before application for more transparent color. You can clean artist’s oil colors with turpentine. Burnt umber or raw sienna oil color work best for an antique finish, but you can use any color desire. Do not use acrylic artist’s paints for this technique; they are opaque and will not give you washed effect that you will get from oil paints. Allow the oil paints to dry thoroughly before applying a sealer coat of varnish.

Certain “mediums” used for antiquing areas discussed here again when they may be used effectively on leaf; in accordance with the manner of coloring, it is possible to gray, yellow, tinting color or blacked silver, and to brown gold. a wide range of effects  that simulate the alteration of time and use is achieved but without the messy and smeared appearance of newly applied antiquing.

Another way to distress or antique a gilded surface involves the use rottenstone, or ground limestone, which is readily available in paint or hardware store. Its dusty gray color can immediately make an object look older. For application on leaf, mix the rottenstone with paste wax (natural) to the desired color. Then apply the mixture to the gilding surface with a rag until you achieve the desired result.

Gold finished or Silver finishes

The easiest way to get an gold or silver finished look, without faults on the gilding surface, apply a final based coat of metallic paint or yellow ochre or gray paint (step 2). Use the wood stains to tone down the shining the gold or silver finish.

STEP 7: SEAL THE GILDING SURFACE

You should seal the picture frame to prevent that tarnishes. If you are using (imitation gold and silver leaf, composition leaf, silver leaf, variegated leaf or copper leaf, metal leaf) and also surfaces on which objects are constantly places and subjects to contact from the body. You do not need to seal real gold leaf, because it will not tarnish. However, if you want extra protection for a real gold surface, you must decide to apply a protective sealer coat.

The best protective coat for a picture frame is lacquer, is comes in either oil-based or water-based preparations that you apply with a brush. Both come in matte, satin, and gloss finishes.

Water based lacquer is easier to use, but oil lacquer provides a more durable finish.

You can also use spray lacquers sealer, found in paint hardware store and art-craft supply. These provide very light protection and are suitable for objects that will get much wear.