This time it's real Gold Leaf

In my last post, I talked about doing faux gold leaf water gilding, this time, it was the real deal. A client of mine wanted an "Old School" gold leaf sign for his high end restaurant, a water gilded gold leaf sign. Done it the traditional way, using a water and gelatin wash to adherer the gold to the glass.

 I started by painting the outline and drop shadow in reverse on the inside of the window. The next step was to apply the gold leaf. It's always fun working on location, sort of. The first problem came when one of the staff decided to come through the door where I was working. I had just finished making a batch of size, and had set it on a ledge using the door closer arms for support. Although I had put signs on the door asking "Please do not use these doors", and also had a ladder blocking the inside, she still decided to use it. Needless to say, everything on the ledge came tumbling down, include the fresh pot of size. I always find interesting, and frustrating, when people don't think that warning signs and such, apply to them. Although she was very apologetic, it didn't change the fact I would have to start over. Even after locking the doors (something I should have done in the first place) people would come up to the door and pull on it, not to mention the pissed off look they gave me because they had to use the other doors, which was 20' away.

Applying the leaf went smoothly, except for the air from the air exchange blowing the leaf on the cutting pad around, but that' just part of the job. The backing-up and cleanup went just as smooth. In the end, the customer was thrilled with the job, and also amazed with the amount of work that went into doing this type of sign. Hopefully he'll keep that in mind when writing the cheque.

 With the outline and shadow done, it's time to move onto the gilding.

With the backup done, and excess gold clean off the job is finished. Time to head off on a short, and well deserved vacation. Although it doesn't show up well in the picture, the gold is highly reflective, the true look of a water gilded sign. Nothing else comes close to the look.