gold leaf over tempera

[JeanM]

I would like to know if it is possible to apply gold leaf over areas that have already been painted in tempera. Sometimes I have second thoughts and wish I had applied gold in certain areas, but have never tried it after already painting the area.

[turlogh]

I would like to know if it is possible to apply gold leaf over areas that have already been painted in tempera. Sometimes I have second thoughts and wish I had applied gold in certain areas, but have never tried it after already painting the area.
I haven't done it, but I know people who do. Historically it was not uncommon to apply leaf over tempera or oil paint. This would be done by oil gilding, since water gilding on top of paint would be impossible. Any of the oil-based oil sizes on the market should work.

[JeanM]

Thank you David. I'm glad to know it can be done. I hope Japan size will work. That is all I have worked with.

[Alessandra Kelley]

Cold it also stick to the egg itself, if the paint is very fresh? Or would that make a faulty bond?

[turlogh]

Cold it also stick to the egg itself, if the paint is very fresh? Or would that make a faulty bond?
I very much doubt that would produce a stable bond.

[Richard]

Why not use a scaple scrape off the tempera - back to the gesso - then apply gold?

[Dimitris C. Milionis]

one rare but very practicle way is to pick up some very fine 22-24kt gold dust, from a local goldsmith shop, just ask them to grind using their drill, I know this would cost you alot of money [February 2006 gold closed at $532.50 an ounce] :shock: add it to your yolk and go ahead :-? .... this was done on greek icons in areas of the clothing instead of gold foil or using zink white :!: .

:arrow: well atleast it will give you added value to your work 8-)

[Richard]

Dear Dimitris there is a mixture of finely ground gold and gum arabic which you can use in a similar manner to water colour pans which can be purchased from a number of art suppliers. Which may give a similar result.

I wonder if you finely ground the scraps of gold leaf left over from gilding and mixed it with egg yolk would that work as a tempera? I have not heard of anyone doing what you suggest how does it look and do you know if it is an established technique.
Regards Richard

[Alessandra Kelley]

I have saved scraps from gilding, but I don't think they work very well with an egg medium; it kind of dulls the shine. That may be why "shell gold" is a mix of gold flakes and gum arabic.

Do icon painters really use gold mixed with egg? I also seem to remember hearing that Botticelli painted gold over the hair in his "Birth of Venus", but I don't know if this is true, or if it is what medium he used.

[turlogh]

Do icon painters really use gold mixed with egg? I also seem to remember hearing that Botticelli painted gold over the hair in his "Birth of Venus", but I don't know if this is true, or if it is what medium he used.
It was hardly unusual at the time. It was common in the 15th century to use powdered gold as a pigment. This was called "shell gold" because it was often kept in a mussel shell like other pigments. The binding medium was usually egg tempera. Shell gold is not nearly as bright as water or oil gilded leaf, but it does look like gold and can be useful for specific decorative effects.

You can make powder from scraps of leaf, but the process involves grinding with some other substance, such as honey, to prevent the grinding from simply annealing the gold into a lump. The honey can later be removed with water.

[Dimitris C. Milionis]

try this site for info Shell Gold

http://www.iconofile.com/detail.asp?product_id=310:SH23.75/S&session_id=

[Richard]

I have made shell gold using skewings (scraps) of gold left over from gilding. Using a pestle and mortar I ground the gold skewings along with a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of honey for twenty minutes, more time, up to an hour, would have been better. I then added purified water to the mortar and stirred the mixture until all the gold mixture was in suspension. Then I allowed the gold mixture to settle to the bottom and poured off the water. I kept adding water to the drained mixture stirring allowing it to settle and pouring the water off. I kept repeating this until the water tasted of neither salt nor honey, after adding water for the last time and pouring off the water I spooned the gold into a mussel shell and left it on a windowsill to dry in the sun. Just before all of the moisture had evaporated I added a couple of drops of gum Arabic to the gold and let it dry completely. After using the shell gold on an icon I was able to burnish it using an agate burnisher. It took quite a high polish.

[Dimitris C. Milionis]

for those in europe I found out that 1 gram of 24kt gold goes for 14euros [about US$17] at a silversmiths workshop, thats for purchasing the metal, so a small fee for fine grinding or grinding it your self is cheaper than US$60 a gram from the art suppliers market

though Richards Idea sounds great and tasty, and I plan to try it out but until then ever trid this

http://www.firebox.com/pic/p1075b.jpg

Gold leaf on Chocalate !

[iconwriter77373]

Hello all:

If you want to gild fairly large areas (that is, lay sheets of goldl down) then the best bet is to take off the tempera down to the gesso, then lay down bole onto which you can apply the gold. If, however, you want to do small areas, or lines, as is often done on clothing on icons, you can apply beer glue and then lay down strips or small bits of gold on top of that.

I have used shell gold (originally I bought it in order to patch haloes) and in general, find it decidedly unhelpful. When it is laid next to properly-done gold, it does not look the same, and it cannot be burnished. (That may or may not matter to you).

The beer glue is fiddly to use, although the making of it makes your house smell fantastic :lol: But it does a great job of adhering the gold to an already-tempera'd surface.

Best,

Jan

[Georgeoh]

I wonder if you finely ground the scraps of gold leaf left over from gilding and mixed it with egg yolk would that work as a tempera?
Grinding gold leaf or mixing gold powder with egg yolk would not be a very effective method of painting gold, because it could not be kept long and it would not take a burnishing. The traditional method is to mix it with gum arabic and apply it as you would watercolor. After it has dried on the panel, it can be burnished to brighten the gold.