Gilding Tools, Kits, Resources
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Mould and Casting Materials
Picture Frame and Architectural
Raw Wood Mouldings
Specialty Gilding Tools and Resources
Traditional Water Gilding Specialty Tools and Materials
ZLKSKER 6 inch Compass with Pencil Holder (to hold pointed agate burnisher for creating Halos on water gilded panels): Amazon.com
12”x12”x1/2” Birch Plywood Panel ~ For Water Gilded Panels: Resourcing quality Birchwood Ply Boards for panel Painting and Gilding is getting more difficult, likely due to continuing global supply issues. However, Home Depot offers a four-pack of 1/2” x 12” x 12” Boards which is perfect for the Water Gilded Panels class. They can be found here Online at Home Depot. The same size in the same Birchwood veneer can also be found at Amazon.
Home Depot also offers large Birchwood half inch Plywood Boards which can be cut to size if you visit the store directly (depening on the store you may need a third party to cut them exactly to your specifications).
Pointed Agate Burnisher for Incising Water Gilding (Granito), #42 that fits perfectly in the Zlksker Compass. A beautiful new Agate Burnisher from Manetti in Italy. Available from GildedPlanet.com (Scroll down the page till you come to #42).
Blunt Tip Burnisher for Punchwork for traditional Water Gilded Gilding (Granito): #DR11 Scroll Down the Page at GildedPlanet.com
Muslin for applying to a sized wood panel for traditional water gilding to help prevent cracking of the gesso; thin is best to help prevent ‘read-thru’ of the texture of the fabric in the gesso. Available through your local Fabric Store. A fine linen or silk can be used although I find a thin, inexpensive Muslin works very well. For an excellent choice, Walmart offers a very good, thin Muslin.
Gesso Straining Bag perfect for straining gesso during the last step of preparation. Sold as a Reuseable Vegetable Bag, this material is made of a durable polyester mesh that can be washed with soap and water and used over and over. Just cut the bag along the left. right, and bottom seams and you can get two sections from one bag. Available through Trader Joe, PCC, and Amazon. For International students, if these bags are unavailabke online, read the description to try to find something comparable locally. Earthwise Reuseable Produce Sack from Amazon.
Ancient Mordants
Gum Ammoniac For gilding paper, statuary, stone. Used alone or in combination with Ilinocopia (Garlic Juice). See the Links below:
Apothocary Garden (Canada; also ships to the US). The raw form of gum ammoniac that disolves in water. (My favorite is raw). An Etsy Company with other intriguing resins!
John Neal Booksellers (US) John Neal no longer carries Gum Ammoniac but you still may enjoy looking at their website as they often carry some intriguing items and books!
Dragon’s Blood A plant resin for tinting shellac for gilding, a crimson resin diluted in alcohol from Apothecary Garden (Canada; also ships to the US). An Etsy Company.
Propolis Of Bee origin. May have been used as an ancient mordant in early Italian Renaissance. Somewhat disolves in alcohol. (I’ve made my own tincture and gilded with it!). Available from Apothocary Garden (Canada; also ships to the US). An Etsy Company.
Book Edge Gilding Tools
Finishing Press for Bookedge Gilding: Holds the book in place while gilding the bookedges. Ex Libris One-Faced Finishing Press, #755-EX39: Universityproducts.com
Brushes
Brushes good for Mordant Gilding, both oil gilding and gilding with water-based adhesive (acrylic emulsion). Inexpensive is often the most suitable for this method of gilding. An excellent selection can be found from Royal and Langnickel. 1/4”, 1/2”, 3/4”, 1” are my preference and the Aqualon Line is my recommendation. Here is a link for a package selection from Amazon. Plus their selection for a set of Rounds can come in useful.
Sgraffito
Dry Pigments for preparing traditional Egg Tempera. Any color pigment will work for creating sgraffito and a wide assortment of high quality Sennelier pigments are available through Dick Black Art Materials. For a cost effective approach you might enjoy the beauty of French Ultramarine Blue or any of the Black Tones (Ivory Black, Mars Black). Dickblick.com
General Gilding Gilding Materials
Gilded Planet is the suggested online retail supplier of Gilding Kits and individual gilding tools and materials for students. Each item listed below will bring you to the specific item shown. The general website for Gilded Planet may be found here: www.gildedplanet.com
Calcium Carbonate (Whiting) for Traditional Rabbit Skin Glue-based Gesso, #Carb3/1 GildedPlanet.com
Rabbit Skin Glue for Traditional Gesso and Clay Bole used in Traditional Water Gilding and Pastiglia: #RSG/330/1 GildedPlanet.com
Gelatin Sheets for Glass Gilding for Glass Gilding/Verre Églomisé: #GE/10 GildedPlanet.com
Kolcaustico Venetian Plaster, #KP/Q (Quart) or KP/G (Gallon): A contemporary water-based acrylic version of the traditional Stucco Veneziano available in quarts and gallons. GildedPlanet.com
Clay Bole, 3355P/K, Selhamin Premixed Clay - Red - 1 Kg Wet GildedPlanet.com
Mould and Casting Materials
Townsend Atelier: Non-Toxic Silicone Mould-Making Compound
Kneed-a-Mould from Townsend Atelier
Amazon: Gypsum Hydrocal Ornament Casting material for replacing missing ornaments that can be water gilded or oil gilded
Hydrocal
Picture Frame Raw Wood Mouldings
Ripple Moulding: Supplier of raw wood Custom Dutch Period-Style picture frames and length moulding. ripplemolding.com
Foster Planing Mill: Manufacturer of raw wood contemporary and period-influenced
picture frames and length moulding. fosterplaningmill.com
Gilding Kits
Gilding Kits
About the Gilding Kits…Below you will find a number of suggested gilding kits from Gildedplanet, a separate company from Charles Douglas Gilding Studio wich offers gilding kits specially for the Gilding Classes and include most of the basic and required materials and gilding tools needed to gild and to use for classes and independent practice. Included are such items as agate burnishers for frames, furniture, and water gilded panels, gilder’s pads, knives, and ‘tips’ used for picking up genuine gold leaf. Just click the gildedplanet.com links below and scroll down their website page until you see the purchase button for the kit. (More about Gilded Planet can be found on the Class Schedule and Information page.)
All of the Kits have been updated to best reflect the needs of the student. The Kolinsky Sable ‘Tip’ which is used to pick up gold leaf (my personal favorite!) is now standard to all of the kits due to special request from students. New Pointed burnishers from Italy have also been included in the Water Gilding for Panels Kit for embellishing panels in the manner of 13thc Florentine Egg Tempera Gilded Panel Paintings. The pointed Burnishers include one Fine pointed burnisher (#22) for drawing incised lines in the gilding which will also fit the specified Compass (from Zlksker) and one Blunt Point Burnisher useful for Punchwork. (The point of either Burnisher may be sanded at the tip to reduce the sharpness of the point if desired). Fine artists will also enjoy the use of a water based acrylic emulsion in their Gilding for Works of Art Kit as a Size for their works of art on canvas due to its great flexibility for movement.
Some kits are suitable for a variety of classes so please read through carefully the descriptions below to make sure that you choose the right kit for the area of gilding that you’re interested in. Each class has a specific Kit assigned to it which is noted in the materials list for your registered class to help you in acquiring the right materials. If you are interested in all or many of the classes then the Traditional Water Gilding for Panels Kit will be the most useful as it has the largest selection of tools for diverse applications. Gilded Planet also lists each item in the kit if you wish to purchases the items individually.
The kits include a few consumable materials that will need to be purchased again from time to time such as rabbit skin glue, clay bole, or size although the kits do include the materials to begin gilding right away and most will include a book of genuine gold or white gold leaf.
You may also need to acquire additional items for your gilding work or class such as a wood panel, fabric, or frame (suggested resources are provided for many of these specialty items found on this page of the website); the kits have the essential tools that may be difficult to locate in the typical art store. (Please refer to the Materials Lists tab in the website Navigation Bar for other information about the materials you may need for your class).
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Recommended Gilding Kits For Your Class
The Art of Book Edge Gilding: A new Kit designed specifically for use in the Gilding Bookedges class. #CDBE/Kit: GildedPlanet.com
Traditional Water Gilding Kit: This Kit has fewer tools than the Kit for Panels (see below). This standard Traditional Water Gilding Kit is recommended for Water Gilding Frames, Furniture, Pastiglia/Raised Gesso, Wood or Plaster Objects and Casting, or Gold Leaf Restoration. #CDWG/KIT: GildedPlanet.com
Traditional Water Gilding for Panels Kit: This is an expanded Traditional Water Gilding Kit which contains pointed burnishers for Granito and Punchwork. As an option, students may choose the standard Traditional Water Gilding Kit and purchase the additional burnishers separately later. However, items sold as a kit are specially priced by the seller. #CDPAN/KIT: GildedPlanet.com
Gilding for Works of Art and Gilding for Absolute Beginners Kit: Suggested for the following classes: Gilding for Works of Art, Gilding for Absolute Beginners, Mordant Gilding (Oil or Water-Based), Dutch Black with Mordant/Oil Gilding, Gilding with Garlic, Sacred Gilding: Gilding the Buddha. #CDWOA/KIT: GildedPlanet.com
Glass Gilding Kit for Glass Gilding/Verre Églomisé, #CDGG/KIT: GildedPlanet.com