How To Apply, Seal And Protect Gold Leaf For Artists And Painters

Leaf Application

There are TWO WAYS to apply leaf, regardless of whether you are using real gold leaf or imitation gold leaf. One application method uses leaf adhesive (also called gilding size or leafing size) while the other method is called water gilding, and is more complicated to do.

In my video I demonstrate using the first option I listed – leaf adhesive. Water gilding is time consuming and difficult, but results in perfectly smooth glowing gold. This is great when used on a picture frame, for example. The reason I do not use water gilding (as well as real gold leaf) for a painting surface that will be overpainted, is because in my opinion, a sleek smooth leaf surface does not easily integrate visually with the way I paint, especially when used as a painting background.

Real Gold Leaf vs Imitation Gold Leaf

There are two different types of gold leaf you can purchase – real gold leaf and imitation gold leaf. Real gold leaf is made of mostly pure gold (under 22 kt and silver is added to the gold) which comes in different karats. Imitation (or composite) gold leaf is made of copper and zinc, and comes in a few variations of gold colors.

In my opinion it IS worth the expense to use real gold, as long as you also use the water gilding application, when the gold is mostly uncovered and unpainted, like applying it to a picture frame.

The benefit of using the adhesive method is that it will show some brush strokes, and therefore integrates better when used in a painting. Everyone has a different idea in mind when using gold leaf so you need to decide which works best for you.

For my paintings, I overpaint a good portion of the leaf, so it doesn’t make sense for me to use water gilding along with real gold leaf. I know there are some good reasons some of you may have for using real gold, and that’s fine. I just wanted to share my opinion.

In summary, you can use either application method – water gilding or adhesive – with either type of leaf – real gold or imitation gold. My video demonstrates the adhesive method with imitation leaf. You can use this same method with real gold. With the adhesive method, the two types of leaf will look very similar after application, because of the type of application method. In other words, when using the water gilding method, it makes sense to use real gold leaf instead of imitation gold leaf. When using the glue or size adhesive, then it makes sense to use the imitation leaf and not the real gold.