Gilding the Icon

This is the point where I prefer to gild my icons. If I gild my icons at the beginning of the icon, I risk destroying the gold as I paint. If I wait until after this moment, I may have to deal with bits of gold sticking to my paint.

There are several different methods to gild an icon. This method uses the Kölner Instacoll System as an adhesive. I like this method because it leaves a nice glossy finish to the gold.

To help ensure I don't have too much gold attaching to the paint, I brush the painted areas with baby powder.
Then, I lay the base layer of the instacoll system. I use light, even brushstrokes. If the base is too thick, you risk getting runnels which will show through on the gold.
After waiting a day to let the base dry, I apply the activator layer. This layer makes the base tacky enough to lay my gold leaf.

I wait 15 minutes to let the activator dry to the proper tackiness. Now I am ready to lay the gold leaf. I use 23k gold leafing to gild most of my icons. When I lay the gold leaves, I let the gold overlap slightly.

After the gold leaves are laid, I use a soft makeup brush to brush away the gold which hasn't stuck to the adhesive.
I keep these bits of gold to use for the making of shell gold paint.

The gilding is all done and polished with the makeup brush. The last part of creating an icon is my favorite: filling in all the fine details. Stay tuned for one final post!