Sketched Buk Brings the Brilliance of Gold to Bangkok

Suchan Chaveewan, aka Buk (pronounced 'book'), is a graphic designer, gilder, and sign painter from Bangkok, Thailand. He has worked hard to make his ornate glass gilding a core component of his work, and BLAG caught up with him in his studio to learn about the challenges he's faced along the way.

One of a number of pieces of interior decoration for the Sui Heng chicken shop that were exhibited as part of the 2018 Bangkok Design Festival.

Bangkok and Back

When Buk was still a child, his family relocated from the busy streets of Bangkok to the tourist hotspot of Phuket, an island in the south of Thailand. His dad worked as a tour guide, while his mum and auntie ran a restaurant. As Buk was approaching adolescence, they moved back to the capital to broaden his horizons, and to give him access to a better education than was available on the island.

Back in Bangkok, Buk's dad was working as an art dealer for the Museum of Contemporary Art, which opened his eyes to the possibility of creative career paths. He went on to study communication and graphic design at Srinakharinwirot University before starting his own working life as a freelance graphic designer, working on projects from branding and logo design to album covers.

The majority of Buk's clientelle are from the hospitality sector, allowing him to integrate hand-painted and gilded work into his graphic design assigments. Shown here is a project for Otsu bar.

Striking Gold

In 2010, Buk went to work in Sydney, Australia, for a couple of years. One day, he noticed a sign in a cafe window that wasn't like anything he'd ever seen before. Inspecting it carefully, he realised that it was done by hand and made use of real gold.

Curious, Buk scrolled through the cafe's Instagram, and soon hit upon their post about the sign, which name-checked Lynes & Co. as the firm responsible. This led to him reaching out to the firm's founder, Will Lynes, who invited him to take a workshop.

The Learning Curve

It was on another trip that Buk finally got to take the workshop, and the already steep learning curve was compounded by his relatively low level of English, and the fact that he had exactly zero previous brush experience. Added to this was the entirely new mindset required to work in reverse on glass.

Work-in-progress for Laun, a diner in Bangkok.

Buk pushed through these challenges, and Will guided him through the basics of water gilding, screenprinting, matte gilding, blending, and backing up. Buk's head was buzzing from the experience, but he was unable to continue his learning journey in Bangkok due to an inability to source the supplies he needed to practise.

In the two years that followed, Buk returned to Sydney for two more workshops, taught by David Adrian Smith, and hosted at Lynes & Co. The second of these was in 2018, and in the year between them he formed a relationship with Urban Billmeier at W&B Gold Leaf. This finally allowed him to get the tools and materials he needed directly from the USA.

Letterheads Bangkok was a personal project where Buk experimented with the idea of setting up a gilding supply service in Thailand.

Finding a Market

Gilding in Bangkok, and more widely in Thailand, is largely limited to its application to temples and statues; some matte gilds on Chinese jewellers' windows are an exception in terms of commercial work. This meant that Buk needed to begin marketing his work from scratch.

Buk created this sample piece to show clients the variety of effects that can be achieved with gilded work on glass.

The process started by suggesting gilded work to existing graphic design clients, mainly in the hospitality sector, but the take-up was slow for the first couple of years. Buk found that what worked was showing the entire process, educating clients about what goes into it, and the results that can be achieved.

Things then started to take off for this side of Buk's business when his work was picked up by some Thai media outlets, which resulted in a short film being made by the Cadson Demak type foundry.

Glass Gilding on YouTube.

Global Connections

While Buk's bread and butter remains his graphic design work, he now spends about 30% of his time on gilding and sign painting projects. He has also continued to forge connections internationally, growing his friendship and support network.

In 2020, he hosted John Studden and Andrew & Kelsey McClellan for a workshop event in his home studio, where they were joined by Alan from Old Soul Sign Co.. It was literally on the eve of the lockdowns that swept across the world, but fortunately everyone managed to finish up and fly home safely.

This piece reads in both Thai and English, and was awarded a Typographic Certificate of Excellence at Type Directors Club 69.

In 2023, Buk's work was recognised by the Type Directors Club, but he is doing anything but resting on his laurels, motivated as ever by what is left to learn in this noble craft.

Here are three more projects to enjoy, and there are lots more on Buk's portfolio site at sketchedbuk.com and his Instagram @sketchedbuk.

Thanks Buk for taking the time to talk to me, and for sharing your gilding journey with BLAG.

10th Anniversary

A special piece to mark the 10th wedding anniversary of friends, Aum and Yingsita.

Fishmonger

Buk has created a variety of interior and external signage for this fish restaurant. More here, here, and here.

Super Machine Studio

Bangkok architects brought Buk in to decorate their studio door.

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BLAG Magazine: Adventures in Sign Painting Craft, Community & Culture •Better Letters