"Newlight" by Danielle Trudeau
I will be attending the
Central Canada Comic-Con this fall for the first time as an artist in the
alley. I've attended previously but having my own table is a first!
I'm the kind of person
that researches something to death before actually going out to do it. This is
no different, and from what I have read about first experiences of other
artists in Artist Alley, I'm glad that I have indeed done my research and bought
my table several months before the date.
So due to it being
Comic-Con, and my style of artwork not being comic-like, I've had to give some
serious thought as to what sort of pieces I will be bringing with me. I've
decided to mostly promote my ink work and sculptures, while maybe taking a
small handful of prints of my painted pieces.
I'd like to have a
small selection of originals alongside my prints, so time to get down to
business!
This is the first
original that I have created with the intention of having it at the convention
(though it is currently available for purchase on Etsy). The subjects were
picked somewhat randomly out of my personal collection of photos that I have
taken for the purpose of reference. I enjoy the sharp severity to some of the expressions
of eagles, which is why they are a common subject of mine. Skulls are always a
thing I adore, so that goes without question.
And the gold leaf. I
cannot describe how much I adore that stuff in a piece, preferably a piece of
artwork that is left in greyscale. Its gaudy in a pinch (which somehow
amplifies my love for it), and the circular shape really drew the two subjects
together, unifying them.
The trick to a neat
application of gold leaf I've realized is the sizer, which is the adhesive that
will allow the leafing to stick to a surface. Months back I had the urge to
test out leafing, and was able to purchase a little kit that had everything I
needed. It was excellent except for the fact that three of the four pots of
medium (brick-red base paint, glaze and antiquing agent) were completed dried
up to the point of them being dry rubbery blobs. Completely useless. The last pot,
which contained the sizer, was mostly dried out as well, but I was able to somewhat revive it. Which means that it
resembled a watered-down version of cottage cheese. Needless to say, the wasn't
in its best quality. But I continued to use it for a few projects until my
frustration took over and I drove over to the nearest craft store to purchase a
new bottle. I definitely should have done that earlier, would have saved myself
many headaches.
The adhesive can be applied with a brush (and apparently with
pen nibs, although I don't have the courage to potentially ruin my nibs
currently), so fine lines are easy to achieve. Brush the adhesive on, let it
dry until there are no more pools (around 20 minutes, the glue should be very
tacky when dry but not wet).
Using a pencil, I drew out my tester piece, my initials and my signature. Then with a fine brush I traced the pencil lines with the sizer and left it to dry.
From there carefully peel off a piece of the leaf,
lay it over the dried glue and press it down. They warn against using your fingers
as the oils can cause a reaction with the leafing and can degrade the quality,
so I use a brush with stiffer bristles to gently press the leafing into the
glue.
Here I have pressed the leaf into the tacky dry sizer, next step is to rub off the excess leaf.
Wait a few minutes, then use the same brush to gently rub the loose
leafing off, leaving only the areas where you applied the glue.
All of the excess leaf has been rubbed off to reveal that leaf that adhered to the sizer. For my signature I should have used a finer brush, but there is still a decent amount of definition on such a small size (the test paper is 2.5"x3.5").
Then you're
done! I'd recommend a coat of varnish, or at the very least a spray of fixative
or clear coat to protect the leafing.
Enjoy!
-D
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