That looks really interesting.
Yep! Neat effect! (I can never get good results with silver and gold leaf…it winds up everywhere.)
Good idea! I’ve played with leaf as well. are you applying a coating to the leaf. If so, what do you use? Protecting the engraving/overlay must be a concern with all the handling a guitar gets. Happy making!
A really amazing look! I would love to know the the story of how you got there. The image alone represents a very interesting story in itself.
The image was just a photo of jimi hendrix i pulled from google, the guitar body was a throw away, just testing out 3d photo engrave, to protect the leaf, i use Watco crystal clear instrument lacquer. i used pg settings for medium basswood hardwood. I have done several other engravings, but this one went too deep, so the leaf was an attempt to salvage a badly burned image.
In order for the leaf to adhere well, i first wash the image with acetone and a gentle toothbrush to remove as much resin and tar as possible. acetone will not raise the grain of the wood, and it dries quickly. then i apply aqua size water based gold size, wait for an hour, apply leaf, brush off excess, and repeat 2 more times. finish with several coats of lacquer to prevent the silver from tarnishing
(although this can give a cool aged look),
Thanks for all the pointers. I work with leaf at times as well. Just like with alot of things, I feel like I am just scratching the surface,because…well…I am. LOL
I totally understand, I am just discovering my artistic side in my mid 40’s, I get all of my leaf and guilding supplies from lagoldleafus.com. Their shipping is prompt and their products are rock solid. Youtube has several videos about gold and silver leaf that are very detailed , happy making!