property number signwriting is generally the street address or number of the building painted onto its walls, entrance doors or windows.
The client requested the street address numerals on their fanlight window to be produced in a style they had seen from my previous work. I had produced a 25 for another client in Kennington & they felt it would look just as nice on their fanlight in Balham.
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Its quite often the case with property number signwriting using 23ct real gold that the matte finish method is suggested & prefered if the window is set back due to an arch or porch/portico entrance. This is due to the mirror finish gilding process requiring sunlight to hit the gold & shine bright. If it doesn’t it tends to reflect the shadow of the proch or the surrounding street & then doesn’t appear gold. With a matte finish the gold is constant. This process is produced by oil gilding instead of water gilding.
Both processes are time consuming & can take up to 5 hours or so to produce. Its not a case of just sticking vinyl or stickers to a window. This is a historic process that has been used for generations & it uses real gold (a precious metal) & not a paint or a sticker in the colour of gold.
The benefit of this is not just how bright the gold shines in the light but also as it can last for generations if done properly by an expert & is made to be protected from any window cleaning. This then means that unlike a sticker it can’t just peel off & look bad after a year or so. thats the difference between paying for quality & trying to find a cheap alternative.
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The first stage is to have pre drawn designs which are brought t size. I use several different pre drawn sizes & then chose the most suitable for the window size.
The layout is the measured into the centre of the window ensuring its painted both centrally & also straight.
Then the outline & dropshadow is painted on the inside of the glass while the light shines through the paper layout to use as a guide.
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The painted outline & shadow is produced with a specialised quick drying but hardening paint. This is needed or the time frame in waiting for the paint to dry & cure can be far too long. The paint needs to be fully dry before the next stage.
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Once the paint has dried & hardened to the glass the ‘size’ (oil gilding form of glue) can be applied. This is produced by neatly painting on the glass in the centres of the numbers. The size needs to overlap the outline slightly rather than be close to it or gaps will appear between the outline & gold where the gold hasn’t stuck.
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The ‘size’ appears like a fine clear jelly & distorts the image when you look through it. It has to be brushed on as consistantly as possible with as few brush strokes as can be used. this is given time to then set to a near dry consistancy, which is just tacky to the touch but not dry.
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The Gold leaf is then carfully applied by sticking the pressed precious metal sheets onto the ‘Size’. this is what sticks the gold to the window, so this requires experience, as ther is techniques used to apply this which doesn’t cause smudging or gaps in the gold. In this instance an extra layer of gold was aplied just to be sure of no gaps.
When laying gold there is always some excess laid. This is then removed once the gold has fully set with the Size.
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The excess gold is cleaned off with specialist soft brushes & damp cloths or tissues. This can only be done once the gold has fully set & the Size is dry. Once this process is complete, I give a offering of either the back of the numbers being fully opaque with a black paint covering the gold for protection, or re-outlining & shadowing painting over the stuck down ecxess gold. this is generaly the chosen option. It is more time consuming but the finished result looks far nicer.
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Once the outlining & shadowing is re-done & dry, the final stage is then to coat the numbers with a clear varnish. This is produced by gliding the brush in very gentle strokes in 1 motion rather than bit by bit. This prvents the gold tearing or breaking apart due to the sticky consistancy of the varnish. its also overlapped slightly. this is so condensation & other elements don’t effect the gold or paint over time. Once this is dry & cured after a day or so it hardens & works like a blister trapping the paint & gold to the glass & is then affected by any window cleaning.
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Traditional & Contemporary Hand Painted Sign Writing in London
Sign Writer Traditional Signs of London
info@traditionalsignsoflondon.uk