I remember that I learned to put the gold leaf, in the first year of the academy, in a restoration camp. It was winter, we were sitting in impossible positions on the scaffolding in the dome of the church, and that's how we had to gild the stucco. You are wonderful and your advices are very good even for connoisseurs. Thank you!
Nice demo Ruth. The alcohol in the water or, gilders liquor, is a wetting agent. It's purpose is to prevent air bubbles from being trapped under the leaf.
I'm absolutely new to this and I love how you went through such a detailed explanation to explain the behaviour of the materials - one of the best instructionals I've seen on any technique. Thank you.
This is the best video I've found on gilding. Thank you for your generosity in sharing your expertise. I'd love to see how to gild complicated shapes like antique Chippendale style drawer pulls.
@@englishrose4388 thanks 😊 You would oil gild the drawer pulls. Like I did in the weathervane video or the gilded key video ruclips.net/video/_nJwUFwvQT8/видео.html
You are wonderful! Your enthusiasm for water gilding really shines - no, sparkles! I can relate to what you were saying at the end; I too had to collect bits and pieces of knowledge from different people. My first instructor was an expert gilder but there were some things she omitted or neglected to show; perhaps, on purpose. Luckily, there were other people who shared their know-how with me. Now, I occasionally teach some people how to water gild, and their first piece is 10 times better than what my first 10 pieces were. I often think that books and teachers describe and show what to do but neglect to tell what NOT to do.
Ruth I must admit to some hero worship here. I started watching Salvage Hunters when it first started. You folks were on BBC Canada for a few seasons and then I thought the show ended. I found out several years later that the show was no longer available to us. Now to watch it, is a technological adventure, so I miss some of them. The first time I ever saw you gild a mirror or maybe it was a different article, I'm getting old LOL. I wanted to learn more about it from you but, well now I can! All of you who work with Drew or Saxon or Tony, you are all just the best of the best and I have been around. My wife Judy just adored your work! That table you used a toothpick to clean!! 💯💯! The finished product, well Judy and I have watched it four times! Anyway I'm a Canadian so I talk too much! Thanks for this Ruth!!!
Keep an eye on my "The Restorers ' playlist. If I find a copy of the episode I'm on I'll put it on there. But the videos get taken down quickly because the person who has uploaded them is breaking copyright.
@@RuthTappinGilder I don't watch those as the copy is awful. There was one called Salvage Hunters I thought might be okay. I am often torn. If I could pay to get them I would, but to do it the right way is around $600/yr because I have to buy a subscription to another service that shows Quest. I have a friend in your neck of the woods who helps me out, but it is a bit of fiddling to watch what they record. I know Quest stuff gets posted but they are 7 to 9 minutes long, not satisfying. I wish Quest would play through one of three BBC channels I have access to on legitimate TV. One is BBC Canada, then BBC Documentary and then BBC Select. Out of curiosity do you watch Call the Midwife? One of the best shows in the world? Is it wrong to watch Downton Abbey just for the furniture? Anyway thank you again.
@@kerrypitt9789 we are lucky here to get quest free. I also pay for discovery plus £40 a year. Discovery owns quest. That means I get to watch one week before it's on tv, so can decide if I'm telling anyone I'm on 😁
Thank you for making such an informative video explaining the step by step process. I've done oil gilding and always wanted to try water gilding. You have helped and inspired tremendously. Please keep the videos coming....you are a wonderful teacher.
No wonder I couldn’t get started. First time i saw guys gilding with leaf was outside on a busy road. I watched and thought yeah thats easy . Now 40 years later just got around to trying it myself. Im used to picking up skills easily: not this time. Good teacher btw . Feels like you’re talking to me not a room full of half listeners
@@RuthTappinGilder right now if I could pull off a foot long pin stripe : id be over the moon. Im hoping A S Handover gold size 3 hours is correct. Coz dat wot eyes got . Fingers crossed
Hi Ruth, how the tech change when doing smaller contours in that frame? Do you just use smaller pieces or what? Also about the knife. Do you try to just clean your knife or sharpen it with that sanding paper?
Great teaching video with all the tips & tricks, I enjoy crafting it’s not as skilled but I love watching people who are good at what they do also watch you on Drew Pritchard videos.
SO glad I found you! I've been wanting to gold leaf a few frames that were painted with radiator paint in the 40's. I have real gold leaf & fake gold leaf. My great uncle was a pro and I inherited all his supplies. Wish I had learned from him but I wasn't interested at the time, but I think if I watch & rewatch you I 'll be able to do this. Thank you.
Thank you Ruth for this super video. I am a person.....when I SEE this , and i practicize it 3 times , it is OK. I learn it myself, this most difficult way of guilding and it works!!!! It makes me verry happy. Thank you so much.
Thank you Ruth Tapper! We currently use oil guilding over at the Architect of the Capital in Washington D.C. Water guilding seems as it would be more efficient. I find your handling of the leaf about as accomplished as is humanly possible. Much respect and genuine compliments to you. Perhaps with time and practice I may be able to improve our approach some. So far all we occasionally do is gold lettering placed into carved plaques and signs as part of the painting program. In the past I also occasionally repaired guided picture frames as part of the framing trade. Your handling is inspiring.
I love your comments. I have to learn more about it. I just found you. you are brilliant. I also needs to find ( later when I learn more) laces that sell some of the material since I am in the USA.
Ohh this was good. I just bought some gold leaf from the supermarket, it’s used for confectionary and so I had a stab at it. All the difficulties inherent in its nature revealed itself biggly. Cannot wait to tool up and go through your entire back catalogue Ruth, many thanks, really looking forward to meeting this demanding craft head on now.😊
Video was very helpful for newbies such as myself, thank you for taking the time to show others your skill and techniques, I especially appreciated the parts where you demonstrate common problems and the solutions everyone will deal with at some point.
What an excellent tutorial. I'm doing a bit of crafting tomorrow so was looking for the basics but you have opened my eyes to the craftswomanship of guiding. Thank you.
Fab. I've been oil gilding on stone and metal for years but recently taught myself to water gild so I could collaborate on an antique frame restoration (which i'm still in the process of completing). Your recent videos have popped up at almost exactly the same times that I've been applying the same processes (glue, gesso, bole, water gilding...) and have been really helpful and reassuring. It's been a steep and often frustrating learning curve but I'm am thoroughly enjoying it and the results make all the months of research and weeks of prep totally worthwhile. Thanks again Ruth :)
Always love your segments on The Restorers, and I love your work. I wish we had more talented restorers like you in Canada. I have so much gilding work needed for various pieces.
Thanks Ruth for your videos, they are so helpful! I've had several attempts at water gilding but never happy with the result. You've given me courage to keep at it!
What a superb video! Thank you so much! LOVE the fact you use IPA - it saves my vodka and is particularly appropriate because at the beginning of the pandemic I started making hand sanitiser for friends and relatives. Once a cheap commercial version was available I was left with 10 litres of the stuff...... I have sufficient to last me out.
Thank you so much for this excellent video! I'm new at water gilding and really look forward to "mastering" the art! Well, that's my aim. I've taken 2 courses so far. I've learned so much with your video today. I have not been taught how to apply the gold leaf with a brush, oils on the face etc. How to cut and burnish the leaf etc. I need to buy all your supplies that you were using! I could go on and on but I won't : ) Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
I am just starting one very ornate frame right now.Quite a project for the first time doing. Not sure if I will continue, but I thoroughly enjoyed your presentation. Easy to understand and great tips, thank you. Threasa, California.
How wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing. I want to start a new project and I bought the gold leaf and I wasn't quite sure how I wanted to start it and I'm definitely going to do this.
Nice tutorial. Never done water gilding but have done a bit of conventional gilding using slow sizing as I was doing relatively large works such as freezes and large capitals. Patience and practice are key.
Hi Ruth, I've been researching gilding and you truly are amazing! I was hoping you could advise me on a special project. My first guitar is from 1976, and I'm not happy with the way the nitrocelulous lacquer has checked and chipped. The plan is to strip it down to the wood, sand it flat, apply a primer, apply 2 coats of polyurethane. Then go through the sand paper grades until I get 5000 grit polish. At this point I'm considering using Barnabas Blatgold brand water based gilding glue to hold Quadruple thick sheets onto my guitar. This brand of glue has a slight cloudy baby blue color that turns transparent when it is cured to the point it is ready to receive the gold leaf. It's apparently crazy sticky too. I'd really like to use water gilding technique because this would allow me to do burnishing and really make the gold shine. After this I was thinking of 2-5 coats of polyurethane to seal the gold, going through the sand papers to 5000 grit polish. The goal is to achieve a mirror like, yet durable finish. I'm purchasing about 50% more gold leaf than strictly necessary in anticipation of wasting some. Does this sound like a workable plan? Any advice you can offer? This guitar has great sentimental value and I really want to do this right. Thank you so much for your help and advice🙂
@@johnrolavs6794 the acrylic size never truly drys it's can stay tacky even with the gold on for a long time. The only way to get a burnished finish is to water gild. You would need to gesso the bare wood then bole. You can't water gild on the polyurethane. You could oil gild or use the acrylic size but I really wouldn't recommend the acrylic. You could try the kolner instacoll system but it doesn't always hold the shine. ruclips.net/video/b_XZGYxaaII/видео.html
Thank you so much for showing this film. I am beginner and I want to know exactly the name of the tools that I have to buy. I mean to start with. Glue pencil etc. You explained it very well.🙏
I love your videos and gain moments of happiness from your lovely work. I am in my late seventies and have a question. Why someone as clever as you is using rabbit skin glue? Please enlighten me. My grandparents told me not to use it as it swells and causes cracking. I look forward to hearing what other glues you use for water gilding. My grandparents just used water. They were not trained gilders but it seemed to work.
You need very little rabbit skin glue in the water, some gilders use gelatine but that is usually for glass gilding. The gilding water is activating all the rabbit skin glue in the bole thats what is holding the gold. The tiny bit of glue in the water helps with the lay lines where the second piece of gold overlaps the first.
If you buy art from the 1800:s & it has a water guilded frame, it is always good art & expensive. (Sweden.) You can start by looking at the frame, then by all means, also check out the painting.... That kind of art has always been over my budget, but i did come across one such painting, in the Antique shop down at the corner where i lived, which i purchased... It was a small sturm & drang landscape, in the classic 7-layer technique, i.e. thin layers and that glorious sky rendering... probably older than 1850... A typical water-guilded-frame painting... Not that water guilding was especially expensive, but the people moving in from the countryside, they were perfectly happy with the classical, cottage/road/forest (optional lake & moose), in a gold painted frame.
![Joé Dwèt Filé & Burna Boy- 4 Kampe II [Official Audio]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/KHOSr53EPCQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Water gilding online course now available, also how to make gesso putty course. ruthtappin-gildingcourses.thinkific.com/
I remember that I learned to put the gold leaf, in the first year of the academy, in a restoration camp. It was winter, we were sitting in impossible positions on the scaffolding in the dome of the church, and that's how we had to gild the stucco. You are wonderful and your advices are very good even for connoisseurs. Thank you!
Thank you 😊
Nice demo Ruth. The alcohol in the water or, gilders liquor, is a wetting agent. It's purpose is to prevent air bubbles from being trapped under the leaf.
Thanks 😊. That makes sense as it reduces the water tension.
Well done! Great job. The new gold matched nice with the old at the end there.
Thank you 😊
I'm absolutely new to this and I love how you went through such a detailed explanation to explain the behaviour of the materials - one of the best instructionals I've seen on any technique. Thank you.
Having just messed up my first gilding job, thank you!
😬 hope the second goes better. 😁
I’ll be wearing a mask when I try this! 🌬
Thank you, Ruth! You are an excellent educator. Thank you for sharing your experience with us.
Your welcome 😊
Just got into gilding....i guess I'm gonna be passable I got tutor like this. Thanks from Glasgow
This is the best video I've found on gilding. Thank you for your generosity in sharing your expertise. I'd love to see how to gild complicated shapes like antique Chippendale style drawer pulls.
@@englishrose4388 thanks 😊
You would oil gild the drawer pulls. Like I did in the weathervane video or the gilded key video ruclips.net/video/_nJwUFwvQT8/видео.html
Just mesmerising and very easy to watch and listen to you. At the end, I’d love to see you burnishing close up.
You are wonderful! Your enthusiasm for water gilding really shines - no, sparkles! I can relate to what you were saying at the end; I too had to collect bits and pieces of knowledge from different people. My first instructor was an expert gilder but there were some things she omitted or neglected to show; perhaps, on purpose. Luckily, there were other people who shared their know-how with me. Now, I occasionally teach some people how to water gild, and their first piece is 10 times better than what my first 10 pieces were. I often think that books and teachers describe and show what to do but neglect to tell what NOT to do.
I recently watched how gold leaf is made in Japan. Very interesting process. This looks like something i would enjoy.
Ruth I must admit to some hero worship here. I started watching Salvage Hunters when it first started. You folks were on BBC Canada for a few seasons and then I thought the show ended. I found out several years later that the show was no longer available to us. Now to watch it, is a technological adventure, so I miss some of them. The first time I ever saw you gild a mirror or maybe it was a different article, I'm getting old LOL. I wanted to learn more about it from you but, well now I can! All of you who work with Drew or Saxon or Tony, you are all just the best of the best and I have been around. My wife Judy just adored your work! That table you used a toothpick to clean!! 💯💯! The finished product, well Judy and I have watched it four times! Anyway I'm a Canadian so I talk too much! Thanks for this Ruth!!!
Keep an eye on my "The Restorers ' playlist. If I find a copy of the episode I'm on I'll put it on there. But the videos get taken down quickly because the person who has uploaded them is breaking copyright.
@@RuthTappinGilder I don't watch those as the copy is awful. There was one called Salvage Hunters I thought might be okay. I am often torn. If I could pay to get them I would, but to do it the right way is around $600/yr because I have to buy a subscription to another service that shows Quest. I have a friend in your neck of the woods who helps me out, but it is a bit of fiddling to watch what they record. I know Quest stuff gets posted but they are 7 to 9 minutes long, not satisfying. I wish Quest would play through one of three BBC channels I have access to on legitimate TV. One is BBC Canada, then BBC Documentary and then BBC Select. Out of curiosity do you watch Call the Midwife? One of the best shows in the world? Is it wrong to watch Downton Abbey just for the furniture? Anyway thank you again.
@@kerrypitt9789 we are lucky here to get quest free. I also pay for discovery plus £40 a year. Discovery owns quest. That means I get to watch one week before it's on tv, so can decide if I'm telling anyone I'm on 😁
Ruth I did not know Discovery owns Quest! More letters to write! Thank you!
Thank you for making such an informative video explaining the step by step process. I've done oil gilding and always wanted to try water gilding. You have helped and inspired tremendously. Please keep the videos coming....you are a wonderful teacher.
😊 thank you. More videos in the pipe line. 😁
I admire your patience.
*you want to run around the room, celebrating… but you won’t because the gold foils will fly EVERYWHERE! 😂😂💦 thanks so much for this awesome lesson. 💜
No wonder I couldn’t get started.
First time i saw guys gilding with leaf was outside on a busy road.
I watched and thought yeah thats easy .
Now 40 years later just got around to trying it myself. Im used to picking up skills easily: not this time.
Good teacher btw . Feels like you’re talking to me not a room full of half listeners
Thank you. It's hard to control the leaf, but once you get that bit, gilding is nice. The oil gilding that you watched years ago is easier to do.
@@RuthTappinGilder right now if I could pull off a foot long pin stripe : id be over the moon. Im hoping A S Handover gold size 3 hours is correct. Coz dat wot eyes got . Fingers crossed
You are excellent technician Ruth, You're Videos get better everytime.
Thanks Joe 😁
Hi Ruth, how the tech change when doing smaller contours in that frame? Do you just use smaller pieces or what?
Also about the knife. Do you try to just clean your knife or sharpen it with that sanding paper?
Dear Ruth, I really loved the lesson, it was wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us, I profoundly admire your job.
Thank you Ruth, that was very helpful. You do make it look so easy. 🙂
Great teaching video with all the tips & tricks, I enjoy crafting it’s not as skilled but I love watching people who are good at what they do also watch you on Drew Pritchard videos.
Thank you Ruth, very well done, simple and very efficient
Great video. I'm keen to see the burnishing process as well.
Thanks. If you go to the water gilding play list, some of the other water gilding videos shows burnishing.
Thank you for the great tutorial.
You're welcome 😊
SO glad I found you! I've been wanting to gold leaf a few frames that were painted with radiator paint in the 40's. I have real gold leaf & fake gold leaf. My great uncle was a pro and I inherited all his supplies. Wish I had learned from him but I wasn't interested at the time, but I think if I watch & rewatch you I 'll be able to do this. Thank you.
Thank you so much for your video. I will be watching it again and again.
That was wonderful information, thank you.
Thank you very much. You are very patient and professional when you're explaining. I enjoyed learning with you. Greetings from Morelia México
😊👋
Oh my! I didnt know it was this difficult..they show it so easy on videos..thank you for this video..
Fabulous video, Ruth. Thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge and experience!
You're welcome 😊
Thank you for this wonderful beginners guide.
Thank you Ruth for this super video. I am a person.....when I SEE this , and i practicize it 3 times , it is OK. I learn it myself, this most difficult way of guilding and it works!!!! It makes me verry happy. Thank you so much.
THANK YOU! My confidence in gilding seems much more tangible now. 🙌🙏
Thank you Ruth Tapper! We currently use oil guilding over at the Architect of the Capital in Washington D.C. Water guilding seems as it would be more efficient. I find your handling of the leaf about as accomplished as is humanly possible. Much respect and genuine compliments to you. Perhaps with time and practice I may be able to improve our approach some. So far all we occasionally do is gold lettering placed into carved plaques and signs as part of the painting program. In the past I also occasionally repaired guided picture frames as part of the framing trade. Your handling is inspiring.
Great video- thank you for the detailed explanations!!
I love your comments. I have to learn more about it. I just found you. you are brilliant. I also needs to find ( later when I learn more) laces that sell some of the material since I am in the USA.
@@smatutina 😁 I think there is an online gilding shop called gilded plant in the US
Thanks Ruth for guiding us through it is a great help for me
Ohh this was good. I just bought some gold leaf from the supermarket, it’s used for confectionary and so I had a stab at it. All the difficulties inherent in its nature revealed itself biggly. Cannot wait to tool up and go through your entire back catalogue Ruth, many thanks, really looking forward to meeting this demanding craft head on now.😊
Thank you 😊
Well done. Brilliant explanation and loads of patience.
Thank you for your instruction…very useful as I try it with my next project.
Thank u for sharing soo much in detail selflessly
An absolutely fantastic video. Thank you so much for all the details. Hope to watch you in the future.
That helps out significantly. Thank you very much.
Thanks
fantastic job❤
Congratulations,you are very good teacher. Thank you.
@@spirosavras1595 thank you 😊
Brilliant video, wonderful teacher. Thanks Ruth.
Video was very helpful for newbies such as myself, thank you for taking the time to show others your skill and techniques, I especially appreciated the parts where you demonstrate common problems and the solutions everyone will deal with at some point.
Thanks!
@@lbarense thank you 😊
What an excellent tutorial. I'm doing a bit of crafting tomorrow so was looking for the basics but you have opened my eyes to the craftswomanship of guiding.
Thank you.
Very helpful, I would like to now the full prep work before you start gilding
Superb video - thanks so much, Ruth. it's lovely watching you work so expertly. 💛
Thanks a million for showing in depth tutorial. You made it look so easy. ❤
Wow! Thank you Ruth! You're so awesome in your craft! I will surely apply this technique. Thank you.
Fab. I've been oil gilding on stone and metal for years but recently taught myself to water gild so I could collaborate on an antique frame restoration (which i'm still in the process of completing). Your recent videos have popped up at almost exactly the same times that I've been applying the same processes (glue, gesso, bole, water gilding...) and have been really helpful and reassuring. It's been a steep and often frustrating learning curve but I'm am thoroughly enjoying it and the results make all the months of research and weeks of prep totally worthwhile. Thanks again Ruth :)
😁 you're welcome Leigh, hope you're enjoying the processes. R
Thanks
Thank you 😊
Always love your segments on The Restorers, and I love your work. I wish we had more talented restorers like you in Canada. I have so much gilding work needed for various pieces.
Thank you 😊 love doing the pieces for The Restorers. I'm starting to make the full teaching videos so we may be able to turn you into a good gilder! 😁
Wow what a great vid, thank you, don't know where this came from but I really enjoyed it, have subscribed.
Cool texture. And we learned from all your efforts. Thank you :)
Thank you for sharing your knowledge, you are a wonderful teacher🙏🏻😊
Awesome video
thank you for all your tips...Cheers
Gracias! So kind and professional!
Thanks Ruth for your videos, they are so helpful! I've had several attempts at water gilding but never happy with the result. You've given me courage to keep at it!
What a lovely video. Thank you.
Thanks 😊.
Thank you for making this video.
C'est magnificent! Gracias love!
What a superb video! Thank you so much! LOVE the fact you use IPA - it saves my vodka and is particularly appropriate because at the beginning of the pandemic I started making hand sanitiser for friends and relatives. Once a cheap commercial version was available I was left with 10 litres of the stuff...... I have sufficient to last me out.
A superb video. Thank you.
Thank you so much for this excellent video! I'm new at water gilding and really look forward to "mastering" the art! Well, that's my aim. I've taken 2 courses so far. I've learned so much with your video today. I have not been taught how to apply the gold leaf with a brush, oils on the face etc. How to cut and burnish the leaf etc. I need to buy all your supplies that you were using! I could go on and on but I won't : ) Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
I am just starting one very ornate frame right now.Quite a project for the first time doing. Not sure if I will continue, but I thoroughly enjoyed your presentation. Easy to understand and great tips, thank you. Threasa, California.
What a fantastic video - thank you so much!
Bravissima ruth
Thank you ' A Great thing to learn..Thanks for sharing
Thanks for your video really appreciated
How wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing. I want to start a new project and I bought the gold leaf and I wasn't quite sure how I wanted to start it and I'm definitely going to do this.
Thank you 🙏 Thank you 🙏 Thank you! 🙏🌹
Thanks for sharing your knowledge!!
@@hairlesscactus your welcome 😁
Nice tutorial. Never done water gilding but have done a bit of conventional gilding using slow sizing as I was doing relatively large works such as freezes and large capitals. Patience and practice are key.
really a lovely tutorial!
Thank you ruth
This is really good!! Thank you!!
Superb video, thankyou very much👍
I saw you on The Restorers. Cool to see you have a YT channel.
very helpfull, thanks a lot. much appreciated
Thank so much for teaching me!!!
Beautiful job
Thank you 😊
Primeira vez que vejo este tipo de douração achei interessante e muito bem explicado grato pela linda aula e grato por compartilhar abraços
Great video. Thank you
@@andrewlm5677 you're welcome 😊
Thank you! 💗
Thank you! great information :)
Hi Ruth, I've been researching gilding and you truly are amazing! I was hoping you could advise me on a special project.
My first guitar is from 1976, and I'm not happy with the way the nitrocelulous lacquer has checked and chipped. The plan is to strip it down to the wood, sand it flat, apply a primer, apply 2 coats of polyurethane. Then go through the sand paper grades until I get 5000 grit polish.
At this point I'm considering using Barnabas Blatgold brand water based gilding glue to hold Quadruple thick sheets onto my guitar. This brand of glue has a slight cloudy baby blue color that turns transparent when it is cured to the point it is ready to receive the gold leaf. It's apparently crazy sticky too.
I'd really like to use water gilding technique because this would allow me to do burnishing and really make the gold shine.
After this I was thinking of 2-5 coats of polyurethane to seal the gold, going through the sand papers to 5000 grit polish.
The goal is to achieve a mirror like, yet durable finish. I'm purchasing about 50% more gold leaf than strictly necessary in anticipation of wasting some.
Does this sound like a workable plan? Any advice you can offer? This guitar has great sentimental value and I really want to do this right. Thank you so much for your help and advice🙂
@@johnrolavs6794 the acrylic size never truly drys it's can stay tacky even with the gold on for a long time. The only way to get a burnished finish is to water gild. You would need to gesso the bare wood then bole. You can't water gild on the polyurethane. You could oil gild or use the acrylic size but I really wouldn't recommend the acrylic. You could try the kolner instacoll system but it doesn't always hold the shine. ruclips.net/video/b_XZGYxaaII/видео.html
You are amazing!
Amazing! Thank you for sharing
"A bit of gold for you."
Touches brush to face, "A little bit of gold for me." 😂
Thank you so much for showing this film. I am beginner and I want to know exactly the name of the tools that I have to buy. I mean to start with. Glue pencil etc. You explained it very well.🙏
I love your videos and gain moments of happiness from your lovely work. I am in my late seventies and have a question. Why someone as clever as you is using rabbit skin glue? Please enlighten me. My grandparents told me not to use it as it swells and causes cracking. I look forward to hearing what other glues you use for water gilding. My grandparents just used water. They were not trained gilders but it seemed to work.
You need very little rabbit skin glue in the water, some gilders use gelatine but that is usually for glass gilding. The gilding water is activating all the rabbit skin glue in the bole thats what is holding the gold. The tiny bit of glue in the water helps with the lay lines where the second piece of gold overlaps the first.
If you buy art from the 1800:s & it has a water guilded frame, it is always good art & expensive. (Sweden.) You can start by looking at the frame, then by all means, also check out the painting....
That kind of art has always been over my budget, but i did come across one such painting, in the Antique shop down at the corner where i lived, which i purchased...
It was a small sturm & drang landscape, in the classic 7-layer technique, i.e. thin layers and that glorious sky rendering... probably older than 1850... A typical water-guilded-frame painting...
Not that water guilding was especially expensive, but the people moving in from the countryside, they were perfectly happy with the classical, cottage/road/forest (optional lake & moose), in a gold painted frame.
Please explain what constitutes a "little bit of rabbit skin glue' in the water gilding liquor? Many Thanks.
For me it's a pinch of the rsg jelly about one cm square.