Bring Bling into Art Using Foils (Leafing)

Who doesn't love SHINNY things and sparkling jewels? I like using metallic foils in my artworks and use both the fabric foils and the typical craft store metallic leafing found in all art and craft stores.  

Fine art painters in the 1400s used gold leaf to enhance their religious icon paintings during an era called the Byzantine www.britannica.com and modern artists, like Gustav Klimt, certainly was inspired by these eye-catching ICON paintings and later got interested in adding gold leaf in some of his painting compositions to bring ambient light and essence of spiritual glow. 

To read more about Gustav Klimt using gold leafing in his series of paintings.  www.klimt.com/en/biography/1899---1910

Original sketch 'LIVE Recording at  The Yale Blues Club, Vancouver by Minaz Jantz

My musician series of sketches were created while hanging out in blues clubs, stages, festivals, and recording studios where I drew upon the energy with line drawings, describing the spaces, performances, dancers, musicians, and patrons.

Later, I would paint from these sketches and wanted to add the SHINE, reminiscent of the stage lights as well as the ambient colored lights coming from music boards. The following paintings have PLAID fabric foils in various colors. I would later cover all of the acrylic paintings with clear acrylic varnish for extra protection.

Recording at The Yale (Acrylic) by Minaz Jantz

Rock Cafe Jazz Festival Port Credit (Mix Media) by Minaz Jantz

I use metallic paints occasionally too but they have their limitations of dazzle appeal, unlike foils. I first discovered PLAID Fabric Foils on clearance, in a LIQUIDATION store in the 1990s. What made this become my favorite foil to use, was its silicone glue that squirted out of the tube, to make a thick impasto-raised surface versus the flatness of typical foil glues.  

DYED Paper Mache bowl with PLAID fabric foil  by Minaz Jantz

I have used PLAID fabric foils on surfaces such as YUPO paper, paper mache, watercolor paper, canvas, and foam core. Some of the oldest paintings with PLAID fabric foil go back to the 1990s and can say that the PLAID fabric foils have been stable and not changed in any way. No color fading, the shine is still the same, and no tarnishing and the glue has kept its impasto thickness. 

SO far so good! I contacted PLAID (the manufacturer) and asked them to bring back this specific product and market it to ARTISTS but they said no more to that style of fabric foil glue. Now it's become a stencil type of glue that is more liquid for fabric foils and looks like it's the same sturdy foils. (Find it at Joann's fabric stores and Micheal's Craft stores).

'Universal Knot Box'  Bristol paper, pencil, Copic Markers, scraps of saved foil bits. 

Traditional Gold foil leafing kits have expanded over the years to offer more fantastic colors. You can find foil kits for sale in most craft and art stores. If your want REAL gold foil, those kits would be hidden away behind locked doors and obviously more expensive to buy. Framers and fine woodworkers might want REAL gold leaf but for my budget, the craft leafing will do just fine for most of what I am creating. 

Here is a few KNOT drawings where I used a variety of color foils, including using the scraps of foils I save in a box so I can use them for texture BLING, like bits of jewels as shown in my artwork 'Universal Knot Box'.  Foils bring a bit of glamour and reflect gorgeous light and shine to an otherwise mat surface.

'Healing Hearts' Bristol Paper, Copic Markers, pencil, & multi-color foils.

If you have not tried using foils in your artworks, you might like to give them a try. Here are some examples presented in this video displayed which demonstrate the various gold leaf foils that are for sale. 

Till next time, SHINE BRIGHTLY, Minaz Jantz