You’ve probably noticed that I like painting foxes quite a lot. Yep, I certainly won’t deny that I love the warm shades of their fur and their sleek-coated bodies, together with the sweet expressions that emanate from them. In fact, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to find another fox on my to do list early in 2020.
For this painting, I had an idea for a sleeping fox with a gold leaf moon as background. I’d never worked with gold leaf before so I did a bit of research on the Internet and watched a few videos on YouTube. Tsk, tsk, they make it look/sound so easy! Reality is somewhat different (at least mine was). It’s a difficult and messy business and I’m not too sure how successful I was. However, this was my first attempt and I’m sure that it’s something that you can get better with the more you use it.
Gold Leaf Application
I first used the Mona Lisa Metal Leaf Adhesive and applied this to the area I wanted the gold leaf to stick to, ie the moon. Use a cheap brush for this as it is an adhesive and would ruin one of your watercolour brushes. Take special note of the recommended time to wait before it is ready for the gold leaf to be applied to it. Also, make sure that the adhesive is lightly and evenly applied to the WHOLE of the area you want to cover. It’s really easy to miss a spot.
Next, I used imitation gold leaf (25 leaf book) by primeart. If you plan to use gold leaf in your paintings note that there are different options, from real gold leaf, flakes, sheets, and even gold leaf paints. These all create different effects, so do your research properly in order to achieve your desired effect. (I used what I was able to source easily but you might have more choice.)
Don’t apply gold leaf where there’s any kind of draught as it is very light and will go flying around the room – certainly an added complication in an already challenging process. As my moon area was fairly large, I used about four of the 140x140mm leaf book sheets. In places I needed to overlap these sheets and I wasn’t too sure how to deal with a join. I used a brush to apply the gold leaf but I found that it tears easily. Once I had applied all I needed to, I went back and cleaned up the messy bits by repeating the process in any gaps.
The last step was to seal the gold leaf as it will simply tear away if you don’t do this. I used the Mona Lisa Metal Leaf Sealer. Again, use a cheap (throwaway) brush for this.
Once you have let the sealer dry it should be strong enough to touch without peeling away.
Would I try gold leaf again? I don’t see why not, although I might try something that isn’t a definite shape like this circle. It’s too easy to see imperfections. Therefore, it might be an idea to try random highlights with gold leaf as accents.
I’ve named this watercolour: “Suspended in golden dreams.” I hope you like it.
View my other watercolours here or on my Facebook page
