Using gold leaf in painting

Gold leaf has a bit of a scary reputation. It is viewed as expensive and difficult to work with. But that does not have to be the case. While professional gilders are highly skilled, there are short cuts which the artist can take to add a beautiful hint (or indeed, bucket load) of gold to their work.

In this film, I introduce you to gold leaf - real and imitation, look at its forms (loose leaf, transfer, flakes, variegated) and then show you how I use it in my paintings. I don't show how I painted the birds, but if you are interested it is ink and watercolour on a wooden panel. You might like a course I have over at www.lizchadertonstudio.co.uk

I love gold leaf. It brings a shine you would simply not get with gold ink, gold acrylic or even enamel paint. You can add tiny touches and highlights, or big swathes of it. The choice is entirely yours, but the process will be the same.

I work in watercolour and ink. These are particularly challenging as water media will not adhere to the gold leaf, so you have to add it afterwards and cut in round your work. However the short cuts I share will be as useful to the acrylic and oil painter, as to the watercolourist.

If you like gold, you might also enjoy this talk and demonstration I did for ShopKeepArty:    • How to Gold Leaf and Gold Paint DEMO ...  

Each week on Sunday at 2pm I share a tip, trick or technique, I wish I'd known about ages ago. If you enjoy this, please like and subscribe and hit the notification bell so you will know about the next one.

If you live in the UK and would like to join me on a workshop, I am holding a one day 'Using metal leaf with watercolour' course on 7 October 2022 in Berkshire. You can find out full details on this and other courses I run at www.lizchaderton.co.uk/workshops and please subscribe to my newsletter while you are there to be kept updated.

If there is a topic you want me to make a film about, please comment or message me.

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