Gilding on Paper…

Traditional Raised Gesso, Flat Gilding, and Contemporary Relief

March 5, 12, 19, 26;

April 2, 9, 15, 16;

May 7, 14, 21, 28, 2025

(Class Meets Weekly for All 12 Sessions; except for extra session April 16)

11:00am - 12:30pm PST

2:00pm - 3:30pm EST

*(Adjust for Local Time Zone)

*Note: Daylight Savings Time:

March 9, 2025 (Clocks Go Forward 1 Hour)

Nov. 2, 2025 (Clocks Go Back 1 Hour)

**All Classes Are Live Online And Backup Recorded, Perfect If You Need To Miss A Class!

CLASS SIZE LIMIT: 10

ALL LEVELS WELCOME!

There is long historical use of gilding on paper, the earliest known examples dating from 5th to 6th Century Gilded Raised Gesso using elements of traditional water gilding for Manuscript Illumination on parchment.

Today there are ways of creating raised images that are being used by artists to simulate this work without the use of burnishers to make the precious Gold Leaf shine.

Inbetween these Ancient and Contemporary techniques there exists what is known as Flat Gilding, where the paper is gilded flat to the surface. Historical Mordants, or Adhesives, have included Ilinocopia (Garlic Juice), Glair (beaten Egg White), and Gum Ammoniac. Shell Gold, made from ground gold leaf and suspended in a binder of Gum Arabic and stored in Shells was used for painting fine lines.

Today you’ll find acrylic products known as Miniatum, Miniatum Ink, and Instacoll used for Flat and Raised Gilding.

Join me for this new, once-a-week 12 Week Online Course on Zoom where we will explore all of these methods, techniques, and Materials for gilding with Genuine 24k Gold Leaf on Paper.

• We begin our journey exploring Ancient and Contemporary Mordants for Flat Gilding, painting with genuine Shell Gold, and creating Gilded Raised Images with Acrylic Mordants.

• After the first Eight Weeks of discovering these various mordants and approaches to gilding paper we take a two-week break allowing students to practice and review. During this time your Instructor Charles will be teaching Water Gilding for a brief period in Christchurch, New Zealand.

• We then return for our Four-Week Intensive Study in the Traditional Art of Gilded Raised Gesso where we prepare our formula of Ancient Gesso, draw an image on French Watercolor Paper, Water Polish the Gesso, and Gild the Raised Gesso by breathing through a bamboo straw, and burnishing with an Agate Stone to secure the gold and make it shine. Several layers of gold will be layered, one upon another, adhered by the Breath, the Agate, and the underlying Mordants.

• You will learn to make this Ancient Gesso for paper with rabbit skin glue, calcium carbonate, garlic juice, gum ammoniac, and non-toxic titanium dioxide.

Join Us for thie Exciting New Class for 2025 that brings together all of the elements for both Historical and Contemporary Techniques for Gold Leaf Gilding Paper! ~

Note: Question and Answer periods are included in each weekly session. Classes are both Live Online and Recorded. Recordings remain viewable for six months after the series ends.

A Materials List will be provided upon Registration. ~

CANCELLATION POLICY: Although No Refunds are available, a Full Credit to Any Future Available Class of equal or lesser value will be provided if you need to cancel. Or if you prefer, you may receive the full Recording Series from the class you joined or from a previously recorded series of your online class. Go Here to View the Complete Cancellation Policy.