Mediterranean Powder Room in San Francisco

Image of a Tuscan powder room

I have gold leafed a plastic quarter machine capsule and now feel oddly powerful. I can make anything TACKY!

Actually, it was a test for the cabinet I’m planning on gold leafing. Over all, the process is super easy. Way more so than I was afraid it would be. Also pleasingly inexpensive. Glue and seal coat were about $4 each, “gold” leaf( it’s technically gilding metal, which is a brass alloy) was $4 for a pack of 20.

I just followed the instructions on the glue- brush it on smooth, wait 30-60 min until its dried clear and gotten super sticky. Then just apply the leaf to the glue, and gently brush over it to burnish down the leaf and brush excess of the non glued areas. Really, the hardest part is that the leaf requires a delicate touch. Its VERY thin, maybe half the thickness of aluminum foil.

Exhibition Essay, Anthony Adcock: "Wayfinding" at Addington Gallery

Anthony Adcock, Grill, 2023, Oil and 23.5k gold on aluminum, 15 x 10 in.

How different are signs from paintings, anyway? One contains carefully composed, two-dimensional imagery rendered atop frontally-oriented substrates, installed so as to maximize the viewer’s access, encourage intellectual engagement, and even influence how one moves through the world thereafter. And so does the other. Dualities like this one --the fine and the everyday, the vernacular and the ivory tower-- have long fascinated painter and tradesman Anthony Adcock, and in “Gridlock,” the artist draws yet another intriguing and absurd conceptual thread through western art history and the nuances of the construction industry. Here, Adcock narrows his focus. A single five-sided shape, the genesis of his inquiry, bounds each painting in this exhibition, effectively aiding in his conflation of road work signs and the work of Italian Pre-Renaissance painter, Giotto. 

The works in “Gridlock” invite the viewer into Adcock’s peculiar headspace, where not only is he able to see art in the everyday (a phenomenon unique to, yet quite common among artists), he also allows himself down a rabbit hole of free associations, what-ifs, and buoyant musings. Works like Giotto’s Way and Wrong Way combine the notions of constructing a composition and the construction of infrastructure, with his trompe l’oeil rendering of crusty plywood and what look like preliminary sketches in “pencil.” He revels in the exquisite contrast that is a matte black on a reflective ground, making a sign a minimalist painting in Crossing. Alternately, the artist puts the imagery of a painting into the “sign” with Figure, wherein traditional figure studies populate the face in place of graphics. Forward and The Muck satisfy one’s impulse to see the painterly potential in the alluring illusion of viscous crud and splatter.

Further still does Adcock delve, with subject and narrative ricocheting between his two points of reference. Just as road work signs function to tell the public where and how to proceed, the imagery of Giotto’s masterpieces are (amongst other things) visual metaphors intended to impact the behavior of those who look upon them. As one of Adcock’s paintings illustrates, it’s a quick conceptual leap from the directional “This Way” to the aspirational “This is The Way.” Paintings like Adcock’s Nope and Descent serve as warnings that some things are off limits, and could have dire consequences. Interstate, immaculate in its saturated colors and iridescent gold leaf, combines this marker of one’s commute with the reassurance that one is indeed on the right path, the straight and narrow. Adcock’s Grill, though, leaves one with existential questions to ponder. Like an icon, this gilded silhouette sits centered in the sign or the altarpiece. Is it an allusion to that which all men (or, should we say, blue collar males) are supposed to revere? Does it represent the pinnacle of contentment, togetherness and leisure? Perhaps it is simply a graphic shorthand for the destination we all share, the ultimate reason for all this traffic: to get home for dinner.

-Robin Dluzen, 2024

Artist & Art Critic

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Jewelry pieces may be electroplated for purposes of lubricity, conductivity and decoration, while electrical and solar components (wires, buss bars and contacts) as well as medical/dental elements are frequently electroplated to provide durability. Sometimes even combinations of metals are employed to achieve unique hues in their finishes.

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Spruce Up Your Property With Personalized Hanging Wood Signs

Hanging wood signs are a great way to add character, beauty, and functionality to your property. They are typically made of wood and have a metal or glass panel affixed to them. These signs can be used anywhere in the home or yard—from the front door to the side of the house, from trees to fences. They're especially important for businesses that want to make a statement about what they stand for or what they offer. If you want to buy high-quality Wood Signs for your property, Art Sign Works is the place to be. We design and manufacture fully custom carved, engraved, and sandblasted wood, HDU, HDPE, bronze, brass, and aluminum 3-D & 2.5-D multi-level signs & plaques and their supports at affordable prices for commercial, residential, government, and military customers.

Whether you need Property Name Signs, Golf Course Signs, or Custom Street Name Signs, we have the best products for you.  To achieve 3-D effects, we use advanced computerized design, computer-controlled carving, routing, and cutting, 3-D bas-relief carving, computer-controlled laser engraving, and water jet cutting (for metal); hand-carving; multi-level sandblasting; polishing and burnishing; and cut-out and stand-off letters & art appliqués. We create dimensional and carved plaques and signs that are then hand-painted with long-lasting automotive-grade UV-resistant enamels, stained and clear-coated, gold- or silver-leaf gilded and metal coated.

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Quick Holiday Decorating With Glitter

Nature recognizes the importance associated with sparkle, particularly throughout winter, when typically the landscape is bewitchingly monochromatic. Think involving the tiny rainbows glinting with an icicle or the sugary sparkles in snow, then imagine how flat everything would certainly look without the twinkle. Indoors, the glittering edges in addition to muted hues associated with winter can get wonderfully evocative. That they can remind a person of a frosty Christmas morning rather long ago. They will contact to mind typically the romance of the fresh snowfall, actually if you reside in the tropics. Some sort of table starts to shine the second you set out the crystal and tiongkok, but to help make it truly glitters and glow, why not add some real glitter? Typically the best kind to use is produced from ground Mylar and looks just like colored sand. It could be ravishing when sprinkled like a dusting of snow on objects from mother nature, for example nuts plus pinecones. Silver in addition to gold glitters will be the perfect accompaniments for any table clothed in the winter whites, but glitters comes in a new great variety of shades. You can work with one color alone, or blend 2 or three together to create accurately the tone an individual want. To dull the brilliance of silver glitter, for instance , add some pewter granules. There will be also larger-grain papers, which come within a variety associated with sheens and can even be transparent; just don't combine them with fine-grain glitter. Too a lot of glitter can be garish, so it's far better to use glittered decor sparingly, like a new potent spice. Glittered nuts look magical when mixed together with unembellished nuts in addition to painted silver leaves in a clear-glass compote. Working with bulk glitter can become messy, so propagate out craft paper or paper towels prior to deciding to begin-you no longer want every surface in your house to shimmer. Gilding will be the lustrous companion to glitter. Gilded decorations, just like the synthetic fruit employed in candelabras, gleam which has a smooth, polished finish. You may wrap almost just about any smooth surface inside a thin layer of metallic loose tea leaf, which is mounted with an backing after which burnished along with a brush or perhaps soft cloth. A person can cover polystyrene fruit in sterling silver leaf, aluminum leaf, and green-mint and even aqua metallic leaf-icy, luminous colors to be able to lighten the season's dark days. Metallic leaf usually will come in "books" made upwards of twenty-five paper-thin "leaves" in an of numerous sizes. Metallic leaf is 3/4 inches square. Aluminum leaf measures 5 inches square. And even colored metallic leaf imported from Asia, sold in publications of just one hundred, is usually 4 5/16 ins square. Although true silver leaf tarnishes, it is going to retain its polish for years if given some sort of sealant for example Ronan Acrylic Clear Heavyweight coat.

If whimsy is lacking in your life, pull up a chair and behold the light-hearted artistic stylings of @jette_reinert!⁣ ⁣ You’ll immediately notice the Danish artist’s undulating Keith Haring-esque hieroglyphics which emboss the surface of her aluminum vapor barrier canvas.⁣ ⁣ Her playful markings serve as an enchanting backdrop for the tangle of gilded ladies and animals in the foreground, all of whom seem to have many pressing errands to attend to. 🐴🌟🐠⁣ ⁣ This is just one of several resin-sealed, acrylic and metal-leaf enhanced pieces that the Vejle, Denmark-based artist is working on in her brand new (currently unnamed) series.⁣ ⁣ Such a charming scene to keep your heart cozy on a wintery day.❄❤☕⁣ ...⁣ posted on Instagram - https://instagr.am/p/CIm-ILCD01c/

If you ask someone to name five artists, they will likely name prominent male artists, but how many people can list five women artists? Throughout March’s Women’s History Month, we will be joining institutions around the world to answer this very question posed by the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NWMA). We will be featuring a woman artist every day this month, and highlighting artists in our current exhibition Half the Picture: A Feminist Look at the Collection which explores a wide range of art-making, focusing on enduring political subjects—encompassing gender, race, and class—that remain relevant today. The show is on view until March 31, 2019.

Together we hope to draw attention to the gender and race imbalance in the art world, inspire conversation and awareness, and hopefully add a few more women to everyone’s lists.

Stacy Lynn Waddell’s practice is characterized by her use of fire, gilding, and alchemical processes, and explores issues of personal experience and American culture and history. In recent years, her work’s physical and material transformations are utilized in works that honor under-recognized African American figures, primarily in portraiture. This particular portrait is of Maren Hassinger, an artist featured in the acclaimed EASCFA exhibition, We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965-85, creating an intergenerational connection between female artists of color and honoring the legacy of Hassinger and her peers. Hassinger is wearing a “WWAR” t-shirt, the title of which glows like a protest slogan from the complex, gold-leaf background. The work also engages in contemporary discussions of memorialization, monuments, and the Black Lives Matter movement, as Hassinger stands above the empty plinth that carried Confederate General Beauregard and that was dismantled during Waddell’s New Orleans residency that produced this work.

Posted by Chiara Mannarino Stacy Lynn Waddell (American, born 1966). We Radical Women Wanted a Black Revolution (for M.H.), 2017. Composition gold and aluminum leaf with gouache, watercolor, acrylic, and Sumi ink on paper, 100 1/2 × 52 in. (255.3 × 132.1 cm). Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art. Gift of the Contemporary Art Committee and purchased with funds given by Deborah Rechler, TL2018.26.

Get to know the local artists - We have shown several artists who paint patterns on the streets. Today we are showing you a studio artist who creates amazing pattern

Gianluca Franzese is an Italian born American art based in San Francisco. He says his art is modernizing traditional techniques of gilding using aluminum, silver and gold leaf. He currently has some art in a group show @Modeneden until June 1st.

Gianluca Franzese started painting early on, moving through realist, expressive, and narrative styles. With a background in decorative painting, his style has evolved to blend continuous patterns of color with dynamic metal reflections, with meticulous attention to detail and dedication to flawlessness. Each painting plays with the viewer’s perspective, illuminating the spaces in which they reside.

http://www.gfranzese.com

WHAT’S INVOLVED IN THE FOIL STAMP PRINTING PROCESS?

There’s no doubt shiny objects catch our attention. A new penny on the ground. The chrome trim on a classic car. A diamond engagement ring. You can add products with foil stamped labels to that list, too.

Whether consumers are shopping in-store or online, the reflective glint of a foil stamped label is guaranteed to not only attract attention but also convey a level of quality and sophistication sought out by shoppers.

WHAT IS FOIL STAMPING?

Hot Foil stamping is a specialty printing process that uses heat and pressure to transfer a design onto the label material with foil film rather than ink. In this process, an engraved metal die or plate is created in the shape of the desired foil effect on the label design. The plate is heated and stamped against the label material with a thin metallic foil film in between. The heat and pressure bond the foil to the label substrate producing the metallic effect. Like hot foil stamping, cold foil stamping uses an engraved plate that transfers the thin foil film to the paper or film substrate. However, cold foil stamping requires adhesive for the foil to stick. In cold foil stamping, the finished image lays flat against the material whereas hot foil has a slightly raised feel.

Foil stamping is often used in conjunction with embossing which creates a three-dimensional effect that elevates the look and feel of a custom label design.

WHAT FOIL STAMP EFFECTS ARE AVAILABLE?

When this gilded technique was first used in the early days of printing to embellish the designs and calligraphy on expensive books and important manuscripts, the process used real gold leaf. Today, metallic foils are made of aluminum or tin, and often combined with a colored layer to create a wide range of materials for the foil stamping process. This includes metallic foils in gold, silver, copper, rose gold, and other colors; holographic foils; pearl foils; pigment foils; and other specialty foils. Of these, metallic is the most widely used. They are also available in different finishes, gloss or matte.

While foil stamping can be done on an entire label design, it is typically used to highlight specific aspects of the label design, such as the product name or logo. For impactful and unique designs, foil stamping can be used with contrasting substrates, such as textured papers, films, matte silver foil, or matte black material. Because foil material is opaque, the color of the foil remains the same regardless of the type or color of material onto which it is stamped.

WHAT TYPES OF PACKAGING AND PRODUCTS CAN FOIL STAMPING BE  USED ON?

This specialty printing technique is a high-impact effect that is accessible to any consumer-packaged goods producer. That’s because labels featuring a foil stamp can be used on any shape label (custom or standard) and applied to any packaging shape or application material. Foil stamping is especially popular with the wine and spirits industry, health and beauty, and CBD products because it helps brands achieve an eye-catching, high-end image.

TIPS FOR DESIGNING FOIL STAMPED LABELS

To achieve the optimum results of foil stamping in your label design, there are a few important design considerations for the artwork:

Vector art: Designs intended for hot foil stamping must be created as vector artwork rather than bitmap or raster art. In order to get proper measurements on the line weights, art must be supplied at 100%.

No shading or gradients: Because of the nature of the hot foil stamping process, shading and gradients are not possible. Foil stamping can only be applied as 100% values.

Size matters: Text that is foil stamped appears bolder than it does when printed in ink. For this reason, avoid using foil stamping on small or thin fonts, intricate design elements, hairlines, or a foil stroke added to small text or objects. It also helps to increase kerning and leading to the typography to enhance legibility. The minimum line weight is .003. The minimum reversed area is .007.

Finish with a finishing touch: Foil stamped labels can be enhanced with additional finishing touches such as emboss or varnish.

Ask the experts

If you’re ready to outshine the competition, foil stamping may be the right effect for your custom printed labels. At Columbine Label, we have extensive experience helping customers achieve the right look to match their design, budget, and marketing needs. Contact us for a free consultation.

My gf made this! #Repost @midnight_epiphyllum (@get_repost) ・・・ Forgive the really terrible bathroom pictures and arm that won’t sit properly without something sticky on the backside... But eeet is DONE!!!! My “Space Invaders” Atari 2600 inspired piece is done and I gilded the f@ck outa this lily! I’ve been getting a little more experimental with my Subterranean show pieces, and this certainly is experimental... The painting inside is inspired by the original box art for “Space Invaders” Atari 2600. It is ink, watercolor, and gouache... the mat I made out of vintage repurposed cardboard and is a little funky with its uneven shape, blue ombré, and gold ray wire wrapping... the frame is vintage and I refinished it myself with aluminum leaf and different colors of blue acrylic... the antennae up top are made out of an old coat hanger and are wire wrapped with gold tone wire... the hand/arm below is holding an original, unharmed cartridge of Atari 2600 “Space Invaders” I procured at Luna Games in Chula Vista... the hand/arm I have aluminum leafed and painted a blue to purple/black ombré over to give it a feeling of depth. Over the top and around the cartridge, I have hand beaded and wire wrapped different chains and pendants. The beads are a combination of natural stone and Czech glass that have a distinctive rainbow iridescent finish. The metals used are gunmetal, silver tone, gold tone, and purple/magenta coated copper wires. My concept for the piece is partially inspired by 1946 “Belle Et La Bete” with the arm chandeliers, the player of the Atari game being abducted by “Space Invaders”, and the tendril-like alien appendages that are slowly coming for the cartridge in the outstretched hand.... “Play my game and save me from the Space Invaders!!!!”, it calls out to the viewer.. Come see this in all its glory at the opening reception for the 8-Bit Group Art Show at Subterranean Coffee in Hillcrest this Saturday from 6-9pm! #spaceinvaders #atari2600 #spaceinvadersatari2600 #atariboxartinspired #inspiredbyatari #originalartwork #seethisinperson #handmade #handpaintedframe #watercolorandgouache #finishedartwork #sandiegoartist #sandiegoartscene #subterranean

July 1st, 2018

Wow. What. A. Day. One of top favorites on the trip so far.

Breakfast in the hotel on the top floor starting at 7am, and we departed for a visit to the Guayasamin Capilla del Hombre and house at 9:30. I was F-L-O-O-R-E-D by Capilla del Hombre, and almost cried during the tour. The immensity of raw emotion and anguish in this Chapel of Man shook me to my core. I am not exaggerating when I say my outlook on life changed after seeing Guayasamin’s art.

Our drive was headed north toward the more modern part of Quito, passing the Pichincha Volcano and the Quito observatory. Above 9,000 feet, Quito is one of the highest cities in the world, with about two million inhabitants. According to legend, Quito actually used to be a lake, but one day the volcano cracked into seven divides, and water seeped in. The first inhabitants of Quito arrived 400 years before Christ, and they found the equator line 600 years after Christ by using the sun’s shadows. They have two avenues; one named October 12th after the day that Christopher Columbus arrived, and December 9th, the day that Quito was founded. The city was named after the people, who are known to have two different colors of skin due to the perpendicular rays of the sun at the equator.  

Arriving at the Chapel of Hombre, its exterior evoked themes of Incan architecture. His painting are influenced by Mayan-Quiches, Aztecs, and Incans, with themes of suffering, pain, and hope for the oppressed. The goal of his paintings was to show that while there has been hundreds of years of blood and suffering, there still may be peace one day. Oswaldo Guyasamin was an Ecuadorian master painter and sculptor of Quechua and Mestizo heritage. Born in Quito to a native father and Mestiza mother, both of Kichwa descent, he grew up poor and was one of ten children. His father worked as a carpenter for most of Oswaldo’s life, and one day he brought home a pre-colombian influenced basket to his son. From this moment, an artist was born. He was obsessed with the basket, and continued to collect Colombian and Pre-Colombian artwork for the remainder of his life. He graduated from the school of fine arts as a painter and a sculpture. His mother was the only person who supported his passion and aspirations, so he dedicated one of his first paintings to her. However at the start of his career, Guayasamin’s best friend died during a demonstration in Quito. This event helped him form a vision of people and the society we live in. His friend’s death inspired him to paint powerful symbols of truth in society and injustices around him. A life-long supporter of the indigenous, his themes of oppression in lower social classes allowed him to gain much recognition.

He traveled with Jose Orozco to many diverse countries in South America, such as Peru Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and eventually to other parts of the world such as India. He observed more of the indigenous lifestyle and poverty, which later appeared in forms of anger, agony, and worry in his paintings. Guyasamin built this museum to capture the political oppression, racism, poverty, Latin American lifestyle, and class division found in much of South America. The Chapel of Man is meant to document not only man’s cruelty to man, but also the potential for greatness within humanity.

We stepped outside the chapel to purchase prints of his paintings and it was SO hard to choose one. I loved each and every one of them. I decided to get more tame ones for my apartment, and bought “Quito Azul”, a beautiful landscape painting of Quito with an emphasis on the power of its volcano. Additionally I requested “Rostro del America”, which depicted the face of a woman divided into two, with one half blue and crying, while the other half was red and orange with eyes wide open. This represented the coming change in America after 500 years of cultural annihilation and slaughter.

After, I visited his grave, which overlooked a beautiful view of Quito. He was buried under a large willow-looking tree, surrounded by monkey grass and ornamented with jewelry and chimes. There was several pots of fresh roses, and the wind blew the chimes so they gently rang. There was no better place for such an anguished man to be built, than that of this tranquil landscape. Comparatively, it seems that the most important leaders in Ecuador believe that life has a hopeful undertone, and continue to work towards a better future for their communities (I am dreading going back to the US; we all think that life sucks and were headed toward imminent corruption

Visitation ended and our bus driver took us down to a “mega-mall” with every American fast-food chain I could think of. I was in heaven.

I have been craving American food for a while here, and never truly found a restaurant that hit the spot. But today, I was satisfied. I got a cheeseburger, French fries, and a coke, followed by an iced Carmel latte with whipped cream from Dunkin.

When then drove up to see the Virgin of Quito. At almost 10,000 feet, the beautiful aluminum statue on Panecillo hill is the most recognizable and dominant landmark of Ecuador’s capital. However it is somewhat controversial because the woman faces the north, favoring the wealthy and bureaucratic. It was created in 1976 from 7,000 pieces of aluminum. She is pictured with in flowy robes, wings, her right hand in the air, and feet stepping on a snake. Around this plaza I witnessed indigenous people preforming a ritual dance for tourism purposes and felt sad that while they posed for pictures. It seemed to lack authenticity, and I felt they deserved more than working to showcase themselves to tourists.

We headed back to the bus to tour Colonial Quito, where they have a monastery, church and cloister on every corner. The San Francisco plaza was first, where we visited Compana church. This religious building was created by the Jesuits, and it best known for its large central nave, which is profusely decorated with gold leaf, gilded plaster, and wood carving. This church practices a theme of synchronism by incorporating suns all throughout the church, and two different crosses (solar and catholic). By incorporating these elements they converted Quito’s first inhabitants to Catholicism. It has the most gold of any church in the world, containing about 50 kg. It is Baroque style, with an additional incorporation of Moorish. Symmetry can be seen up and down the halls, especially at the front where there is a real staircase and a painted staircase on each side. Toward the altar, the lily of Quito’s remains are kept; she was the first woman to be an Ecuadorian priest.

The main plaza was last, which featured the presidential palace. Their current president does not stay here, but it is guarded by presidential police, and on its first floor has Incan architecture to pay homage to their roots.

We ended the tour by stopping at an incredibly overpriced chocolate factory, and from there I returned to the hotel for Felipe to take Sylvia and I to the doctor. I have trouble simply walking up hills here because 1) my lungs 2) the elevation 3) I am out of shape. Felipe translated to the doctor what happened to me, and he said it was a virus. I have not been able to get rid of it because we have been changing climates so often. He gave me fluoritex and vitamin-c, and told me to only drink warm liquids, don’t get cold, and rest. After that I got dinner at a pizza places a couple blocks down. I got pineapple pizza and it was really bad. The pineapple was too sweet, so I took it off and had a ham pizza.

Overall WONDERFUL day.

A highlight of stages in creating an oil gilded, toned aluminum leafed frame, from gesso through air-brushed tinted oil gilding. ~ #charlesdouglasgildingstudio #seattleartist #nyartist #gildedplanet #gilding #silverleafing #gildingclasses #seppleafproducts #nycgildingclasses #artclasses #gildingartsnewsletter #fineartframing #aluminumleaf #artworkshops

KINNO Gold Leaf Schabin Flakes,5 Grams Imitation Gold Metallic Foil Flakes

KINNO Gold Leaf Schabin Flakes,5 Grams Imitation Gold Metallic Foil Flakes

★ Dimension & Materials : This bottle accommodates 5 g ; 86% copper and 14% Aluminum leaf flakes, dimension of bottle is dimension of bottle is 2.17″ by 2.56″

★ Extensively Software: this gilding flakes can be utilized for constructing, work, crafts, dwelling ornament, furnishings, inside design,nail DIY, slime and creative work★ Extensively Software: this gilding flakes can be utilized for…

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Bookbinding Tools

http://www.braidense.it/bookbinding/uk/tools.htm

THE TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES OF DECORATIVE BOOKBINDING

Brera Library

“Early leather decoration was made with small wooden or ivory stamps, which were gradually replaced by alloy instruments, mostly bronze or brass tools provided with wooden handles of varying lengths. The arrival of metal led to a new technique of impression, known as blind tooling, whereby leather no longer needed dampening in order to be impressed. [...] Blind tooling involved the use of heated tools. [...] Excessive heating might have burnt the leather, while insufficiently heated tools might not have ensured a clear, distinct impression. A panel stamp is a small finishing tool originally made of hardwood, engraved intaglio, bearing simple patterns like crosses, quatrefoils and rosettes. 

The roll came into use alongside the stamp. Nordic in origin, it consisted of a metal cylinder of variable thickness, the circumference of which was engraved intaglio or in relief with thin fillets or decorative patterns. Once heated and run over the leather, it was used in order to make repeating strip patterns all along the border, and much more quickly than with the small tools, which had to be impressed one by one. Like other finishing tools, the roll was provided with a long wooden handle, which enabled a craftsman to exert all the pressure required to impress leather or parchment by holding the instrument with his shoulder. Like medieval seals, the rolls for blind tooling were cut intaglio so as to impress leather with a pattern in relief standing out from the surface. Decoration with goldleaf, instead, involved using rolls having a design in relief, so as to impress leather very deeply. Narrow at the start, rolls grew larger over time - which called for increasingly skilled craftsmen.

The blocking press was a finishing tool in use in Flanders since the 13th century. Operated through a screw press, it was cut in iron or bronze, and bore patterns intaglio or in relief. Set in a wooden or metal framework, the blocking press ensured that the cover of an octavo or a twelvemo volume was rapidly decorated in its entirety, or, as was the case with quartos and folios, it was used to impress about three quarters of a cover. A press could be engraved and cut to almost any shape, representing a wide range of themes, with a predominance of scenes from the Old and New Testament (No 16), portraits of saints - especially in France and the Netherlands -, and in 16th-century Germany notables of the Reformation (No 103.)

In the second half of the 15th century, all such tools turned out to be perfectly suitable for gilding. If, in the early days of gilding, gold was used in liquid or powder form, as time went by it was beaten into very thin sheets of variable purity, known as gold leaf.”

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http://www.braidense.it/bookbinding/uk/materials.htm

THE MATERIALS

Brera Library

“Early book covers were executed using wood, leather, parchment, and embellished with metal ornaments in medieval times. The use of wood for the boards was characteristic of medieval bookbinding. [...] Starting from the 14th century, beech came into widespread use. Central and northern Europe, however, went on using oak. Medieval bindings featured clasps, corner plates and bosses, generally made of bronze, brass or iron. Rather than serving only as a writing surface for the codices, in the 15th century parchment was also used as a jacket for the boards. Tanned hide instead was utilized for the covers of codices, and for the component parts of a binding's structural framework: bands, endbands and ties.

Parchment was made out of sheepskin, goatskin or calfskin. The skin was immersed in a salt bath, stretched evenly on a frame and left to dry. Leather was made from the skin of several animals. The hide was first unhaired, then tanned.

[...]

The use of tawed leather was characteristic of the early Middle Ages: the skin was treated with aluminum salts and fat. The late Middle Ages instead utilized vegetable tanned leather. Tanning prevented natural decay, and made leather water-resistant and heatproof. Listed below are the main types of leather used for wooden or cardboard boards: Morocco: goatskin with a pinhead grain pattern. It is the best leather for bookbinding: soft, durable, vegetable tanned and dyed, easily processed. Elegant and strong, it emphasizes gold tooling. Morocco is very expensive leather, which is why it was used mostly for treasure bindings. De luxe 16th-century book covers were generally bound in red fine-grained morocco. Sheepskin: leather from a sheep's skin left in the undyed state. It is smooth and soft, yet little durable and therefore easily scratched and cracked. Second-rate leather, it was reserved for bindings of lower quality. Calfskin and cowhide: very delicate, smooth leather without any noticeable grain pattern. The finest version of this kind of leather is light brown, and even and regular throughout, smooth and free from grain defects. Pigskin: the hide of a domestic pig. Ivory-coloured like parchment, it was used extensively as bookbinding leather in northern Europe from the 16th century to the end of the 18th. Tough and indestructible leather, it has the characteristic grain pattern formed by the hair follicles which are arranged in triangular groups of three. Naturally coloured white, it has a tendency to take on a golden patina."