Joseph Altwer helping me with my frames this weekend.
Two coats of gesso, sand them forever, red bole, buff them forever, masking tape, glue, gold leaf, shellac, black bole, buff again, wax, two coats of bitumen, buff again, retouch, then clean the gold leaf from every nook and corner of the studio. I’m probably forgetting something, anyways, not worth it. This was my first time making frames and while I think its good for painters to understand every aspect of their materials (and making paints, mediums and canvases is definitely worth it for the cost savings and the control), I’ll draw the line at framing and leave it to the experts.
Leo Mancini-Hresko showing us how its done (on his birthday no less, what a guy).
Marc, a good framer definitely earns his money. If you do try again, using transfer gold leaf means much more of it goes on the frame and not floating off around the studio.
Thanks Roy, after we had finished I watched Youtube videos on gilding and it was funny how clueless we were.
I went to the Museum School in Boston and it had a class on this and many other traditional techniques. It was a class from a bygone era when the Museum school was a good place for art education. The class room was like a lab and they did master copies, true gesso, fresco, and gilding . They used transfer gold and silver leaf.
I’ve been making frames for several years. I am by no means an expert so I’m always looking to learn more. That leads me to the question. What is the bitumen used for? I’ve not tried that.
Hello Carlo, the bitumen is used at the end (with the wax I believe) to darken the color of the gold.