I had always wanted to play with gold leaf and a chance purchase of culinary gold leaf set me on the road to gildingthese figures. The inspiration came from an ancient Greek scabbard of a lion hunt. The figures were primed in red oxide car primer, then painted with gold size. Once the size was as sticky as Sellotape the gold leaf particles were picked up with a paint brush and dropped in place until all was covered. The dry brush was used to tamp the leaf into place. Once fully dry, to enhance the finish, gold leaf as backed on wax paper was applied as a second coat, positioning parts of the sheet cut with scissors and pressed in place but not tamped down. Left alone for 24 hours this resulted in a smoother shinier finish.
The figures were then backed against leather and mounted in a frame.
