Materials
- Cardstock
- Yellow/Gold Marker (for base drawing)
- Brush (recommended size will vary depending on your design)
- Acrylic or Water-Based Gilding Size (oil-based will bleed into the paper and doesn’t work on porous surfaces)
- Metallic Gold Leaf
- Large Makeup Brush (or other soft-bristle brush)
- Stiff Brush (a regular brush hardened with glue works great!)
Steps
1. Begin by drawing the design you want on cardstock with a yellow or gold marker. Essentially, you want to make certain that the marker color does not show through the gold leaf. You can also download the "Stay Golden" design used in this tutorial by clicking the button below.
2. Apply acrylic or water-based gilding size to your drawing. Take your time here: the size needs to'set,' which usually takes about 15-20 minutes. You are not required to beat the clock! Take your time to ensure that you are painting over your original design accurately so that the gold leaf looks nice and clean.
3. Allow the gilding size to dry. Although it may appear counter-intuitive, gold leaf adheres best to a slightly tacky surface, which occurs naturally with the gilding size after about 15-20 minutes.
4. Carefully place a piece of gold leaf over the top of the design once the gilding size is tacky (but not wet). If your design is complex, you may need to print several sheets. It's a good idea to overlap them slightly so that the seams are hidden in the finished piece (the gold leaf blends together fairly well). At this point, use the makeup brush to 'pat down' the gold leaf and control where the sheets fall.
5. Once the design has been completely covered with flattened gold leaf, rub it across with a stiff-bristled brush. You may need to rub the surface for a few seconds or make several passes, but only the areas painted with gilding size will remain.
