#edge gilding

My workshops for the summer session at SFCB are live today! Visit my Workshops page for specific offerings. I am dialing it down a bit this summer to open space for Dominic Riley and Michael Burke, who were unfortunately prevented from visiting for their usual summer regime during covid shutdowns and later. One workshop I am really excited about is an expanded Decorated Edge. It had always felt…

So I went a little crazy with the gold leaf. A mixture of gold and rose gold.

My first try at edge gilding.

My size is prepared,

The leaf is laid out,

My agate is polished and smooth.

The press, it is loaded,

The edge has been scraped,

I feel like I'm in the groove.

I put on the size,

I lay on the gold,

My confidence reaching its peak.

I polish the edge,

Till I see by its shine,

The edge of perfection I seek.

I take the book out,

Fan open the leaves,

My heart stops still in mid-beat.

Where has the gold gone,

I look all around.

As the leaf flakes onto my feet.

Oh, where did I err,

I did everything right,

But the gold, it just didn’t stick.

I love the gilt edge,

But the process is such,

That it leaves me feeling quite sick.

~Unknown Gilder ca.17thC

First Image: I've been trying to achieve something like this without using fancy gilding machines.The results are getting better but I can't seem to perfect it because of the adhesive(size) I'm using. I have gold leaf but I prefer the red metal leaf like the one used in James Jean's Rebus.  image source: www.pink-e-pank.de Second Image: After the edge gilding I'll turn it into something like this. This one is pretty easy but I want to do the gilding first. I'll do the bookbinding, aging, and everything. I found this tutorial here: http://www.instructables.com/id/Harry-Potter-style-Hogwarts-Library-Spellbooks/#step0