Today I tackled the gold inlays on Hel’s robe. This is always a stressful time, and a major effort for me in the process.
I chose to inlay the areas in parallel gold wires, since these are mostly long and skinny locations. I began by excavating a shallow pocket, then cutting a single line along the edge. Then, I used a tiny flat graver to cut little undercut pockets along both bottom edges of the cut. The gold will flow into these undercuts and become trapped. In the images above, you can see the little flat graver cuts along the lower edge of Hel’s hood hem, and the first bit of gold wire I tacked into place.
Next
, I just repeated these steps with more parallel cuts, installing a wire, and making the next set of cuts. Above, you can see (left to right) a single wire inlaid, then two wires, then finished, scraped and smoothed. I used four parallel wires at the widest parts of the inlay.
Above, you can see all the finished gold inlays, ready for the shading. That’s enough for today…
Thanks for Looking!