Framed!! An odyssey of gold foil experimentation

The Find

As per usual, one night I was walking around on trash night and found some beautiful frames out in the discard pile.  There were three frames, but they were heavy and one had broken glass. I however, have only two hands and a strong dislike of accidentally slicing open my skin in the name of salvaging and freestyling.  You might have guessed that I only took two of the frames.  You might also have guessed that I regret not going back for the third one and just... being.... really.... careful.  Alas, hindsight, 2020, etc.

Anyway, the two frames that I did take had cool vintage-style photograph prints of French architecture.  I thought about keeping these 'as is' since I like the subject matter, but the frames were just too heavy looking to feel right with the rest of the decor.

The Find: Framed vintage photo print

The original black and silver (silver-bronze? silverish?) frames would have been perhaps suited to an Art Deco illustration, but on this frame there was some surface damage on the silverish section which pushed me towards a makeover.  I decided that this would be a good chance to experiment with a new-to-me re-finishing material - imitation gold leaf.

Back of frame with dustcover removed

In order to reduce the weight of the frames I discarded all of the glazing (the front glass).  One had a chip in it that I hadn't noticed originally, so it was safest to discard the entire piece.  When taking apart the piece to clean it and prepare for makeover I learned that the frame is not wood, but some sort of plastic composite.

The Makeover ... Odyssey

I ordered some imitation gold leaf flakes in the VERY MISGUIDED thought that they could be used like sprinkling sugar onto icing. So easy in my head, lay down some glue, sprinkle on gold leafy flakes, brush off the excess, get smoothish shiny finish. Oh so wrong. So so wrong.   I started with the outside of one frame, thinking maaaaybe the gold flakes would look interesting next to the original silverish part of the frame.

Imitation gold flakes, getting uglier...

Oh such an ugly mess.  

Seeing the outer part of the frame covered in the gold leaf convinced me that it would not look good next to the silverish part.  At this point I continued in my folly and kept covering the rest of the frame with irregular pieces of imitation gold leaf.

Covered in imitation gold flakes

At this point I knew that it was going to look like even more of a hot mess if I continued down the flaky road. Naturally I thought MORE gold leaf was the cure, this time in the form of large squares.  I applied these squares of the same material to the other frame.  It looked slightly better, mostly because it was easier to cover larger areas with one sheet.  This also made it less likely that glue would get on the top of the imitation foil and change the finish.

Imitation gold squares (left) provide better coverage than flakes (right)

Below you can see a close-up side-by-side comparison of the same type of gold foil, but applied in two different forms (flakes vs. squares). The same adhesive was used in both cases.

Closeup of squares vs. flakes coverage

By this point I was oddly determined to make this imitation goil foil work.  

Let the experimentation continue! 

I covered the 'flaked' frame with a second layer of imitation gold foil squares, this provided better coverage, but didn't cover up the texture from the original layer of flakes.  Unfortunately imitation gold foil isn't sand-able, apparently this will just scratch the surface without really smoothing - at least according to the internets.  I didn't want to mess this up further by scratching though my painstakingly applied foil, so I decided to love the texture.  

After finishing the full application of imitation gold foil squares to both frames I realized that they looked a little too bright. Too fake shiny, almost plastic.  Ok, what's the solution to something too shiny? Matte clearcoat perhaps?

Outside we went to apply some spray matte clearcoat.

Applying spray matte clearcoat

The difference was dramatic. 

After applying the matte clearcoat I began to believe that this art project was not in fact going to end with some swear words and two large frames in my own curbside 'free' pile.

After matte clearcoat (left) vs plain imitation gold foil (right)

At this point after applying the clearcoat I realized I wanted to compare the imitation gold foil finish to the painted gold finish I had used on a frame that now held a poster of minerals.  The gold foiled frame, even after the clearcoat, still looked a little too bright, too harsh.  You can see the difference in the photo below.

Painted gold (left) vs. Imitation gold foil (right)

The side-by-side comparison with the painted frame showed just how different the imitation gold foil was - far more yellow - when compared to the paint.  To my eyes the paint looks warmer, with more orange and red tones, as compared to the colder brighter yellow of the imitation gold foil.

By now my determination for loving and living with the imitation gold foil finish (plus matte clearcoat) was fading, to be replaced with the realization that it was time to paint over the gold foil with my existing jar of creamy gold paint.

Could I get away with just a diluted "wash" of the paint?

Gold paint 'wash' over gold foil, ugly.

Huh. No. Looks like some sort of bug bodily fluid sprayed itself over the frame and concentrated into the crevices created by the foil.  Better to just use the regular paint, and regular old painting techniques, for the entire frame.

So that is what I did while I was waiting for my prints, source from the amazing amazing amazing FREE resource known as the Biodiversity Heritage Library, to arrive.

Conclusion (at last!)

Finally. The frames were painted gold, the texture even seemed a little more interesting when it was mellowed by the warmer gold paint, and the vintage natural history illustration of a heron was in place.

Framed heron illustration

Happy freestyling, and yes, experimentation can take longer than expected.  Prepare yourself!