I finally got the hang of edge gilding after a week of messing it up

Last Tuesday I tried to gild the edges on a leather journal and the leaf just bunched up and looked awful. I watched a few videos and realized my paste was too thick. Yesterday I thinned it way down and tried again on a practice text block, and it came out smooth and shiny. Has anyone else had to adjust their paste mix for different humidity levels?

3 comments

3 Comments

amy_reed792mo ago

My kitchen is a disaster zone every time I try a new craft. The real skill isn't in the technique itself, but in learning how to fix your own mistakes. You just proved that rule again.

cole_mitchell572d agoMost Upvoted

Hold on, I gotta push back a little. I've gilded hundreds of books in my shop and I pretty much use the same paste mix year round, humidity be damned. If your paste is too thick, you're just not mixing it right from the start. I think people blame weather way too much when really their ratios are off or they're not letting the gesso cure long enough. Just my two cents.

beth7192mo ago

My friend had the same problem last month, she had to add a tiny bit of water to her mix on a really dry day.