Maggs and Gold Leaf

Maggs has been busy with school art projects. She's currently working on an old book made from a wooden box. The project turned out kind of spooky and old looking. She was very pleased with the results and wants to use metal leaf on everything now!

She's gotten into my STAEDTLER metal leaf in gold #11

Such a rich gold. This leaf colour is beautiful.

First she sketched out her design in chalk pencil. Then she followed her drawing lines in STAEDTLER sizing for metal leaf. It's clear so she took care and painted under a bright light so she could see where she had painted.

After the size had dried for twenty minutes she placed a sheet of metal leaf over her design and used a large flat medium stiff dry paintbrush to push the leaf into the still sticky size. 

After the leaf was stuck down she used the same paintbrush to brush away the excess leaf. She saved it in a ziplock bag for another project.

After the piece was dusted off and any extra leaf was removed. Maggs coated the piece in a thin layer of STAEDTLER fimo gloss varnish to protect the leaf.

She let the varnish dry overnight and lightly sanded the surface to give it some tooth. She made sure to be extra careful and not harm the leaf design. She added a coat of dark brown stain to antique the piece, let the stain dry and added another coat of varnish. 

I thought the pictures we took made a pretty good metal leafing tutorial for anyone who hasn't tried it. Remember that the leaf sheets are as light as air so shut any windows and turn off fans before you start working with it. It very quickly becomes airborne with the slightest gust of air.

So fun to work with!!!