Bole - gold combo

[Benhen]

Sorry if this is old hat to the forum, but wouldn't it be great for us novices if there was a colour chart of various combinations of gold colours and bole colours?

[vintage frames]

http://www.goldleafsupplies.co.uk/

[Benhen]

The combinations? Or just individual swatches. Btw. Handover were cheaper the last time I looked.

[Benhen]

I'm keen to get some sort of discussion going. Certain combinations work very well, others less so. The classic Venetian red with antique gold.... Or a more violet plum red with a more silvery greener gold for a greyish drawing.
There are a few classic combinations?
But perhaps people would rather not share their hard won experience?

[Benhen]

I recently used a greyish White Bole under standard 22/23ct gold. (See photo)I had seen something similar on a very old decorative Italian piece. I don't think it is very successful, (partly due to the moulding)and wish there had been a way of visualising first... There's always photoshop, but.

[standenfineart]

If you are Ben Henriques represented by Park Walk, I do like your work very much; landscapes through to still life.
Undoubtedly your own style but something about the still life paintings reminiscent of Ben Levene.

[Benhen]

StandenFA, thanks for your kind comment.

[vintage frames]

Several of the gilding supplies companies do the Roberson's range of wet bole and you can view these on their web-sites.
As to combinations of colours used under gilding, it was traditional to use a yellow colour in the hollow areas of the frame and a red or even grey colour under the areas to be burnished. Most oil gilding was done over a red and yellow boles. Grey looks very wrong under oil gilding.
Modern gilders do mix their own colours, but it can all look a bit overdone if the gilding is rubbed back too far.
Red under gold is warm; grey under watergilding can look light and dusty which is especially good on slips.

[prospero]

Sometimes water-gilding over greys or even black gives the frame an ever-so-subtle hint of green. Dark blue can also look good if used with restraint.

Very nice frame Ben.

[Benhen]

Thanks, Prospero, early days. But wouldn't it be great if we could knock this boring minimalism into the long grass? I'm thinking of the wonderful decorative frames of Vienna 1900s....
How about light blue as a bole? Years ago I saw an amazing ancient Gerard David icon of a Madonna and child. When you looked closely at the little cracks in the painting, they were pale blue.

[prospero]

Ben. Have you seen the finishes that The Frinton Gallery do?

http://www.frintongallery.co.uk/

I must admit to cribbing a few.

A lot of their frames use powder gilding. Not sure what binder they use. Someone once told me it was Traffic Wax (for industrial floor polishers). But the key to the finishes is not so much the gold as the base coats. They use the trad red, but their 'ivory' finishes are a white base with cunningly applied speckles. The gold is 'ghosted' on top of this which gives a very pleasing effect. More often than not a light wash is added. I have developed my own versions which I use regularly. The trick is to make the gold heavier in places and almost non-existent in others.

This sort of thing....



My 'Laura Ashley' finish. Splodges of green and pink over a white base. It doesn't shout 'I am a Gold Frame!" yet essentially it is.

[prospero]

Here is another using the same ready-gessoed 'city' moulding as the FG use, but with no corner ornaments.
Much softer effect than leaf gold. The key is the washes applied on top of the gold.

[prospero]

This one has more blingy gold. The panel is bright green with black sponged on top.

[vintage frames]

Ben - Ive looked at your frame and I really did believe it was an original antique. Full respect! If you can turn out work like that, what on earth can you learn from any of us.
I especially like the way you've allowed the gilding to wear through the grey bole and showing the gesso ground.
You mentioned using pale blue bole. I add it to the Paynes Grey bole from Robersons and it gives a slightly deeper tone which looks good under worn burnishes. But I still like the dusty colour simply left under matt slips.
The deep red bole colours can look a bit aggressive under worn gold.
Whatever the colour of gold used, I don't feel it should relate to the colours in the painting. Gold itself has a wonderful quality to enhance and light-up painted art and when it looks "blingy", or too dull, that's just poor gilding and finishing.
And at the end of the day, you can't beat a beautiful antique gilded frame.

[GeoSpectrum]

sIlly question perhaps, but we spend a lot of time aging frames and trying to achieve the 'look of ages' i am wondering what antique gilt frames looked like when they were new?

[prospero]

Good point. I think they used to knock them back a bit with tonings and wotnot even when new. But I don't think they deliberately knocked chunks off.

It's like the 'noble ruins' of antiquity. You tend to think they were always like that, but they must have been in good nick when they were built. Some where brightly painted.

[vintage frames]

When a frame was originally gilded, say 100years ago, the gilding would be bright and un-marked. The gilder would then have painted on a weakened size of RSG to dull the shine or glitter. This also gave a pleasing contrast to the burnished areas of the gild which were left untouched. You hear also of them painting on a gilder's ormulo, which can be replicated with some gamboge and dragons blood resin. This was only to tone the gilding to better match the colours in the art work.
The colour and tone of antique frames is a direct result of years of smoke and grime polished onto the surface of the gilding by domestic "dusting and cleaning".
The leaf marks that you often see on watergilded frames occur when that area of the frame is repeatedly cleaned and polished over many years. Like furniture, the colour and finish is down to patina and like good wine, only improves with age.
Even the rather plain wooden frames from the 40s and 50s now have aquired a pleasing patina.
And today, even the industrial producers compete to replicate that image.
Does anyone remember Wyatt and Ackerman; they did a wonderfully toned down and plain selection of mountboards which were perfect for the period.

[Jamesnkr]

Here's a frame with all the boles possible. Lovely effect. From here:

http://richard-framemaker.blogspot.co.u ... -bole.html

Capture.JPG (61.72 KiB) Viewed 8762 times

[Benhen]

You mentioned using pale blue bole. I add it to the Paynes Grey bole from Robersons and it gives a slightly deeper tone which looks good under worn burnishes. But I still like the dusty colour simply left under matt slips.
The deep red bole colours can look a bit aggressive under worn gold.
Whatever the colour of gold used, I don't feel it should relate to the colours in the painting. Gold itself has a wonderful quality to enhance and light-up painted art and when it looks "blingy", or too dull, that's just poor gilding and finishing.
And at the end of the day, you can't beat a beautiful antique gilded frame.[/quote]

Vintage Frames, Dermot,
Your comment above, especially on gold colours is really very helpful, thank you very much. Apologies for the delay.

[JFeig]

Various bole colors were the hallmarks of various countries and periods. I have no idea where my original notes on this subject are located. I could ask this question to a museum curator.