Gilding Grounds

Grounds serve a two fold purpose, they act as filler if working on bare wood and as Dutch Metal or genuine gold leaf is so thin, they  serve to give gold a warmer colour. If you are creating an aged finish the deep red colour will show through the gold giving a very authentic appearance as the picture on the right shows.

You can use Armenian bole for this purpose, many do, but I choose to use a simple red ochre earth pigment which gives as good results.

This ground is simply mixed with water if working with a wood or porous surface, or it may be mixed with size if you are thinking of working on a non porous surface such as glass or metal.

One of the most popular finishes is the crackle glaze, lets go on to see now this finish is obtained. click here.