Sampling - Fred Fowle - Gold Leaf a Learning Curve

A vast majority of Fowle's work is done by working over a layer of metal leaf with Flamboyant paint. Flamboyant paint is a translucent paint that when applied over the leaf allows the reflective shine of the leaf to show through and adds a bit of sparkle to the design 

First attempts at laying Gold leaf, spray adhesive was applied to paper and the leaf laid on top while still in the paper book, then by rubbing the back of the tissue paper that the leaf comes on it is smoothed out. As can be seen it was difficult to get it to lie smooth using this method. 

For the second attempt I repeated the process but after initially using the tissue paper to smooth it I used a general brush to smooth it out some more. This was effective but the bristles were too stiff and pulled the leaf up in certain areas no matter how light a touch was used.

As a third attempt I bought a very soft bristled brush to smooth out the leaf but the initial laying could have been better.

As well as the brush I purchased some gold size, this is an acrylic based adhesive that can be brushed or sprayed on and stays tacky for up to 24 hrs. I experimented with it by using sign writers brushes to paint the letter J and then laying the leaf. The leaf can then be brushed smooth and anywhere that leaf wasn't applied to it will just brush off. The size should have been left long as it would have allowed the brush marks to settle and therefore a smoother finish.

First experiments with sealing and painting on top of leaf. The leaf must be sealed first or the slightest scrape will make it peel off. Here I have used enamel and acrylic paints both straight out of the pot and thinned down. This allowed me to see what would stick and whether it was possible to create a flamboyant effect without using expensive flamboyant paints. Watered down acrylic paints were the closest to flamboyant but lack the initial gloss shine.