TECHNIQUE
Gold leaf painting
Real gold leaf is laid on the support by hand in wafer-thin sheets and then painted over in oil.
The metal lies under the paint. What you see is light passing through a layer of oil, striking gold and coming back. That is why such a painting looks different in the morning than in the evening.
How the gold gets onto the painting
Sheet by sheet, by hand, before the oil paint.
Gold leaf is about one ten-thousandth of a millimetre thick and tears in a draught. It is laid on a prepared ground and pressed down. Only then does the painting begin.
Why the painting works with the light
Where the paint is thin, the metal shows through.
Where the oil paint covers, you see colour. Where it glazes, you see gold. That distribution decides how strongly the painting responds.
Which room suits it
Rooms with changing daylight.
A wall that catches raking light in the morning shows more on a gilded painting than an evenly lit one. In rooms with purely artificial light the effect stays flatter.
Care
Dust dry, with a soft brush only.
No water, no cloth. A cloth drags at the metal and leaves marks that cannot be undone.
Availability
Three works are currently available.
Formats from 30 × 20 cm to 200 × 100 cm, prices from CHF 300. I do accept commissions. Write to me with what you have in mind.
More: Silver leaf painting · Charcoal & gold leaf · Encaustic on wood · Techniques
