The Effect of Adding Gilding to Hand Finished Frames
Posted: Thu 18 Feb, 2021 11:53 am
This frame is called a Black or Ebonised Gothic Frame and is commonly used around 18th and 19th century maps and prints. In this example there is a line of gilding around the sight edge and the effect of this is to gather the light and brighten up the enclosed image.
This post, of course is to promote and signpost the gilding course you can buy on my website
but with that out of the way,
we can go on to look at how the use of gilding can add both value and beauty to a hand finished frame.
If you look again at the photo you can see how the thin line of gilding actually catches the light and glows quite prominently in such a dark photograph. It is this bright line that will attract the eye and in turn, forms a frame around the art work.
Some people might suggest the use of faux gilding or painted effects, but this serves merely to highlight the frame alone and ends up separating it from the artwork which it was meant to complement.
But then who needs to know stuff like this? A well run frame shop can thrive over it's lifetime without ever being troubled by customers wanting a bit of gilding.
But if you do offer some hand-finished frame samples and the option of enhancing them with a little gilding, then such handiwork will soon be noticed and before you know it, you'll have local art and antique dealers, along with a few successful artists nosing around your workshops.
And then it won't be long before the bigger beasts start to notice.
Gilding is a skill and it's very easy to rush it and get it wrong. Doing it right requires patience, time and a pedantic following of procedure.
My course will teach you the basic grammar of gilding and finishing.
After that it's just down to imagination and creativity.