Frame in process of being gilded
Gilding is easy, though it requires attention to detail. Gilding is also fun. I gild when I make my own frames. I recently went into the gilding process in detail on my own site. Not many artists gild or use gold. I sometimes wonder why.
Does gold have a place in modern/contemporary art? Would you use gold if you knew how? Or is gold something of a symbol on being not-modern?
So, that is how to frame, making your own frames! I
Making frames is fun, but it is also a lot of work. The problem comes in that it makes the work much more expensive to sell.
But finding good frames that someone else makes at a moderate cost is difficult. It depends on the type of work you make. The painting in your last post, Listening, would go well with a simple self-made frame. Keep in mind that the width of the frame profile is important. It typically needs to be in harmony with the major elements in the picture. Or, it can be broken down to a smaller proportion through, for example, gilding only the inner portion.
Your framing of ‘Listening’ is growing on us. It is very bold in its width and darkness. The width of the frame is about 1/3 of the diameter of the picture. Amazing.
Karl,
Once again, I find we’re on a similar wavelength. I’ve just begun experimenting with inkjet printing on gold and silver leaf. I think I first had the idea when I was thinking of printing my seaweed series, and remembering the green-gold color and how bright it was, wet and reflective. I really like the look of gold leaf as it goes down on watercolor paper, smooth but kind of rough and crinkly at a fine scale. Of course, ink just puddles if you try to print directly on metal, so I’ve tried a few surface treatments. I’m currently trying out the Golden “digital ground” for non-porous surfaces. It seems to work reasonably well, though I am still studying how to adjust various parameters, and the crinkliness interferes with fine detail. At the moment, I’m actually trying out the Black Water images (renamed Dark Water) on silver leaf.
So, from the point of view of a learner, I found your account lacking one or two details. For example, in what you call the “faulting” stage, you don’t say how hard you press the foil against the surface. Is it still only with the brush? (I press quite hard with a roller or fingers, but through a sheet of glossy paper, not directly. Probably the surface wouldn’t take on the paper roughness as much if I pressed more lightly, but I’m not sure about sticking to the size I’m using.) Also, how hard is your final rubbing? And is there any point in a protective coating? Gold should be chemically OK, but is it rugged enough?
Gilded frames can look great, and seem to be popular with the more traditional landscape painters around here. I’ve made a number of frames using a similar method, but with interesting papers rather than foil. The problem is sometimes having a frame much nicer than my picture!
Karl, Steve:
A quick thought before running off…in regards to the ability of a gold finish to prettify, for lack of a better term, do you think the work of Brancusi or Sol LeWitt would be better if covered in gold leaf?
Jay,
I don’t know LeWitt well, but Brancusi certainly experimented with different materials. However, I like his marble Bird in Space better than the polished bronze version.
Once again, I find we’re on a similar wavelength. I’ve just begun experimenting with inkjet printing on gold and silver leaf
Steve, no way! What a coincidence.
For example, in what you call the “faulting” stage, you don’t say how hard you press the foil against the surface. Is it still only with the brush?
Steve,
The pressure depends on how strong the mordant is. At first, I use very light pressure, just enough to move the gold around and press it down. I increase the pressure as I go along, paying attention to the way the gold-covered mordant has a kind of resistance to movement against the brush hairs. I don’t use any real pressure until after I’ve covered the mordant and let it stand a week or so.
The final rubbing on oil gilding isn’t that hard — essentially, as hard as possible without spoiling the surface. With water gilding on a chalk ground using a stone, the pressure can be very great. There the goal is to polish the chalk ground under the gold and create a mirror effect.
I don’t use a protective coating, although if the gold is too garish for the picture in question, I put a thin film of linseed oil onto it.
Jay,
In ancient times, bronze was often gilded, as I’m sure you know. Gild the works in the images that Steve links to? I think this gets to the question of my post, because I think gilding would destroy the minimalist aura that these pieces are built on. Thus, gilding would be an interesting idea, because it would help use see if there is anything there beyond the minimalist mystique, which is something of a cliché. Of course, gold is simple in itself, but it is not characteristic of minimalism, as far as I know. Maybe add a few rubies as well.
Karl:
I can think of a few ways in which gold is regarded: as something spiritual, incorruptible, easy to work, inherently valuable, enhancing appearances. Seems that little of this has had a place in twentieth century art. I own a book that surveys the history of constructive art and little or no gold shows up. Minimalism as I understand it follows the path of least means, on one hand, and an interest in vivid surfaces to complement simple shapes on the other. LeWitt’s three dimensional grids, white painted, are something of an exception. It may be that he wanted not to interfere with a play of shadows as light penetrates one of these grids. In that case, gold would simply get in the way. And I agree that Brancusi’s marbles are far more subtle than are his bronzes. His wooden totems might react well to a good gilding.
Jay,
You leave out glitzy and consumerish, if you can call those artistic. Perhaps that’s why I prefer the rough texture I get on gilded paper, sort of like raw silk vs. silk.
I should add that my experiments with gold are also motivated by Tanizaki’s In Praise of Shadows, which I’ve mentioned before.
Steve:
And to pick up the flickering light that came from candle and hearth.
Steve:
I clicked to your “artistic” to find some oddity. Is Koons really into trenchant social commentary? Oldenburg has enlarged on the subjects of his enlargement, but Koons loves the glitz, that you mentioned, far too much to give much thought to big statements – so it seems.
Also, what happens when the storms of winter come blowing: a steel balloon dog making its own landing in the Hudson River? One doesn’t park a custom car on the street or a shiny sweet where it will meet the sleet. Especially when it has but a toe for feet.
Karl,
I have a technical question for you. As I experiment with the use of leaf, I’m wanting to not just cover a surface, but to leaf over a small, well-defined area. I try to define this by where the adhesive is applied, and then brush off the excess around the edges. Working on paper, I’m having trouble getting sharp edges, as the foil tears in a slightly jagged way as it’s brushed off. I can’t use a pre-cut shape, because I can’t apply adhesive precisely enough to hold the foil edges but not be visible beyond them. Any suggestions? Also, have you worked with different thcknesses of leaf?
Is this for sale
Is this for sale?