Here are some of the basis steps in using Composition Gold Leaf.
Prepare the surface, basecoat, adhesive, metal, seal, antique, seal.
The finish of your gilding project will be a bright gold color. The texture will be up to you to determine. A smooth, hard glossy surface will lead to a high luster metallic surface as though the gold were polished. A rough finished natural wood will provide a gold color with very little or no luster. The surface is key to your final finish. You may wish to apply a coat of varnish first if the texture is extremely rough at first.
The surface must be sealed. The adhesive will be absorbed into a porous surface. The #801 Venetian Red Basecoat has been designed to seal a surface well. It is made with no fillers or matting agents. The red color is one of the most traditional colors to be used with gold leaf. Its red iron oxide pigment has been around for thousands of years and is a warm tone seen in the tears and cracks of gold leaf. The #801 is a water-based acrylic and is compatible with many substrates.
This next step is very important. The adhesive sizing is what the metal leaf will be making contact with. This is not a typical glue. The #802 Adhesive Size is a water-based, pressure sensitive adhesive. When it dries it is tacky. A THIN coat is all that is needed. Being a pressure sensitive adhesive, its nature is to be soft so as to be tacky. If a thick coat is applied, the leaf will be much less durable and can be easily scratched. Use a fine bristled brush that will leave very few brush strokes. A proper coat should dry in not more than 30 minutes and can take as little as five minutes. It is not necessary to apply the adhesive to the entire surface at one time. If you are working with a piece of statuary, you may wish to plan on having a 'handle' to manipulate your project without touching your freshly gilded work.
Now for the metal. Yes this is real metal. The #812 Composition Gold Leaf is not genuine gold. It is a copper alloy and so will need to be treated as a bronze when tarnishing is considered. We do offer 22k genuine gold as well. The application is the same but the genuine gold is much thinner and more delicate. I will use the term gold leaf many times and will be referring to composition gold or metal leaf.
The use of gloves has become important to me. They are not necessary, but they make handling the leaf much easier because it will not stick to fingers. Also and more important, if not protected the acids and oils from your skin will cause the leaf to tarnish quickly. A piece that has not been sealed or touched will stay bright for quite a long time. I had a small column that I demonstrated on at a show and was not able to get the sealer on it before we were packing up. It was wrapped up in paper and put in a box with our other demo materials. Two years later it was taken out and was still quite bright. We were not sure that it had not been sealed until we noticed that it was beginning to tarnish where we were handling it as a display item at the table.
To begin applying the leaf, open the book exposing part of the first sheet in the book Using a fine nylon brush such as a taklon or white nylon artists brush approximately 3/4" wide, fold over part of the first sheet of paper. Then using your (gloved optional) hand tear off a portion of the leaf. The amount will be determined by your project. An object with deep recesses and detail will require smaller pieces to work into the 'valleys' of the surface. Place the piece of leaf on the adhesive. After placing, it cannot be repositioned. Smooth the piece out a little bit try to avoid getting the brush on the adhesive. Further smoothing will be done later. Tear off another piece to overlap slightly. The leaf will only stick to the adhesive and not to itself. Where it overlaps or wrinkles it will tear or break off later during the burnishing process.
If your project is a simple flat horizontal surface with little or no detail, such as a table top the seams will show up more. When applying the leaf you may choose to apply full leaves at a time. Pull the sheet off the paper allowing only 1/4" or so hanging off. Keep the leaf as flat and smooth as possible. While holding the book of leafing nearly parallel with the surface, let the overhang catch and then slowly pull the book out from under it. Blow GENTLY in the center of the leaf to adhere it more. Lightly brush it smooth and continue another piece. Again, leave a small overlap to fully cover the adhesive. This will give a slight checkerboard appearance when finished. This will clearly indicate a hand gilded finish done with care and patience.
After you have covered all your planned surfaces, go back and continue to smooth out the leafing with your brush. There will be LOTS of small pieces of leaf the break off and cover your table. Where you may find gaps that you would like to cover, take larger pieces and patch with it. Remember, anywhere gold has not covered, the adhesive is still tacky and can hold leaf. If you truly missed with the adhesive and it is not sticky, brush out another THIN coat of adhesive over the missed area and cover as before. It is not necessary to cover every crack and tear. Some small spots or cracks that reveal the red basecoat are also a very traditional effect. The amount to cover is entirely up to you.
Continue to smooth with the brush until it seems that no more is coming off and the gold is smooth and bright. You may also use your cotton gloved fingers to smooth out some of the more stubborn lines and overlaps. Soft cotton cloth also works well in lieu of a cotton glove.
Now comes the sealing. Your gold leafed finish is at its brightest right after burnishing but it will tarnish if not sealed. Apply a thin coat of #803 Satin Sealer over the entire area gilded. You may notice that the luster changes. This is physics and cannot be avoided. The light has to penetrate the clear sealer, bounce off the leaf, back through the sealer and then to your eye. Stray light is picked up in this process and 'whitens' the gold. If you choose to use 22+ karat gold, the sealer is not necessary to prevent tarnishing, but you may wish to protect it from scratching anyway. If you used a thin coat of adhesive and rubbed (burnished) the leaf well, this change will be lessened. Let the sealer fully dry. It will be dry in an hour or so and fully cured over night.
You may wish to antique your project. #804 Antiquing Glaze is a mineral spirits based gelled stain. It gives excellent control and can be worked for a very long time. Brush or wipe this on and then brush or wipe it off leaving it in the crevices to show detail and present an antique finish. Allow this to dry fully and then seal again with another coat of sealer.
You are now finished. Step back and enjoy the time honored and beautiful finish.