Laying down the sparkle...

Once the size has tacked up it's time to lay down some gold at last. It is amazingly easy. The gold is so thin and light it will blow around if there is a wind. Take a sheet of gold (still on the tissue paper) from the book and gently lay it into the size. Press it down, burnishing it by rubbing through the paper gently. Lift off the paper leaving the gold stuck to the sign. Move to a new section of the lettering and repeat.

The gold will be a little ragged and uneven but not to worry. We'll fix that in a hurry. Once you have finished a section take a large, very soft brush and go over the letters, gently knocking off the excess gold. The brush actually scratches the surface of the gold and these minute scratches make the gold catch the light and sparkle. The effect is dramatic and amazing. Tiny flakes of gold will fall like snow to the floor. I use a brush I picked up from a cosmetics counter as they are much less expensive than a real gilder's brush.

It didn't take long to go over all the letters. I put the gold on in the same order I had put the size on so the tack on the letters stayed the same all the way through.

Next installment I'll show the finished signs - sparking out in the sun...

-dan