Varied colour distressed frame

This frame has been in a couple of recent posts, it has now been finished. This is what was done; after I painted on some stippled paint I covered the inner section with Liberon liming wax which was then wiped off with a cloth, the sides were brushed with antique pine wax.
The frame was left for a few minutes and then I brushed round the inner part (where I had waxed) with various dry pigments such as yellow ochre, and also mixes of pigments in burgundy/reds, blues, brown/greens, and so on. The painted section was given some distressing with fine abrasive paper, and then the gilding was carefully wiped down with white spirit to remove any excess wax. Finally the whole frame was given a really good polish.

The possibilities and variations in the painted section are endless, this example uses a number of colours which are quite strong, although this variation/effect does not come across that well in my photos.

Framers Forum Live 2012

I had a very enjoyable time at the Framers Forum Live event at the weekend, always good to meet up with other framers and talk frames!

Gilding workshop

Here are a few photos from the gilding workshop at the Framers Forum Live meeting in Stratford-Upon-Avon, which I attended on Sunday. 

Stipple paint

This frame was seen a few posts ago, the next stage was to paint the inner section with one coat of quick drying acrylic primer undercoat and two coats of lime white. Then I stippled on some diluted paint in two different colours. Next comes the last finishing touches.

Borrowing ideas

I get lots of ideas from seeing other framers' work, I think it is a part of the creative process to see what others are doing and either replicate or adapt them in your own way, or within reason even make an exact copy and steal the design.

I saw a frame like this one above a while ago, and really liked the look of it. I have tried to make one exactly the same. The deep outer frame has a dark green paint base (on gesso) and it has been oil gilded in aluminium leaf. Then it is really heavily distressed, and has been given some paint flecking, toned with shellac, pigments, and is finished with wax.

The wide bevel slip has a usual gesso base, it is then painted off-white and covered in very fine paint speckles and flecks, and is finished with stippled on wax.

Is it OK to copy other framers' frames?

I recently saw a picture framing website which had copied large amounts of information from my website. This was not just similar content but exactly the same, word for word plagiarism. I am sure lots of websites are built by looking at other sites and getting ideas, then drawing on these ideas to develop your own site. I know I looked round other websites when I designed mine, but I wrote all of the content myself and it took me absolutely ages.

Charles Caleb Colton said: “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”

This is actually what I thought, someone believed my content was so good, they would not even try to hide the fact that they had simply taken the hard work of someone else, and were passing it off as their own.

I like helping framers when I can, and say honestly, had I been contacted by a framer who wanted to use my content on their own site, I would have been happy to help. If they wanted to simply copy the text then I think it is reasonable to get a credit for this, it is after all my property. Alternatively they could have used the text as a base and then re-written it in their own style, without having to credit me as the original author.

Anyway life is too short to spend more time thinking about this, the person who took my work has now re-written it in their own style, and I wish them all the best.

Bright gilded frame

This is not one of my frames, it was supplied by a gallery and I am just fitting a painting in.  It is burnished on the inner and outer edges and is quite heavily distressed all over.

Great fluted cove

This is a lovely French fluted cove frame, the style is called Second Empire. It was probably made in the first half of the 20th Century, and is a really good quality frame.

Poor materials

An example of some poor quality materials and methods used in framing an original watercolour. The masking tape has been put along the top edge of the paper which is bad practice as it does not allow the paper to move with changes in temperature and humidity. No undermount was used to protect the watercolour from impurities in the backing board, it is also better to hinge the art to the undermount as it allows easy viewing of the work (when removed from the frame) and provides more support. 

Masking tape is possibly the worst tape that can be used, it is simply not intended for mounting art. The adhesive will either dry out quickly or it will transform into a horrible sticky mess, possibly with the solvent bleeding through the paper causing serious damage to the art. The mountboard is a poor quality and not suitable for original watercolours.

Corner repair

Just needs some wax and polishing and this little repair will be finished.

Small repairs

This carved reproduction French Louis XIII flower corner frame has a few small areas of damage. The style of frame is also sometimes called a Louis XIV style as it continued to be used and developed throughout this period, in this context it is also described as a transitional style of frame - when corners really started projecting from the edges of the frame designs.

Starting the gilding...

 

                                      

Here we have a couple of frames gilded in 23.5ct gold leaf - one is burnished while the other (top) was left matt. The next frame is done in 18ct lemon gold, this frame later had the outer section burnished. The last frame is gilded with 22ct moon gold over various bole colours with burnished outer.

Next comes the bole...

Gesso frames and sanding

Lots of gesso frames being sanded and smoothed. This is done with various grades of alu oxide papers and also with damp cloths.

Gilded frame

The black bole frame from a few posts ago, now shown gilded all over in 23.5ct gold.

Paint finish

An obeche bolection profile which is painted with red/brown Plaka casein paint, then a browny black Plaka mix, it was then distressed and polished with 0000 wire wool. 

Carved Italian frame

Another frame seen in Italy, this one was surrounding a TV screen in a small natural history museum. It is very ornately carved as you can see, some of the carving is relevant to the town we stayed at, whilst other details seem purely decorative or are more classical for such leaf frames. The towns famous castle can be seen at the bottom, a cable car is bottom right, wine bottle and glass on the left, handbags on the right, and a lady's leg and high heel shoe top right. There are lots of other smaller carved motifs all around the frame background but my poor photo does not show them.

Black bole-ction

This frame is made from a bolection moulding, the term originated in the 17th C and is used to generally describe raised mouldings used around doors, fireplaces, and paintings.
It has been sprayed with gesso and was then given a few coats of black bole, which is fine clay mixed with glue. The bole was lightly rubbed with 0000 wire wool, and next it will be gilded.

Pile of frames

This pile of 10" x 12" obeche frames have been made in various shaped profiles. They will be used at a practical gilding workshop at an upcoming framing event:

Framers Forum Live! 2012

Gilded slips

A couple of slips that have a grey bole base and are then gilded in 22ct moon gold. The support frames are made from MDF and just make it easy to handle the slips when applying the gesso, sanding, applying the bole, and then gilding. The outer frame is left in barewood and will be painted by the artist customer.

Italian frames

I've just spent a very enjoyable holiday in Italy, here are just a few photos of the many framing and frame design related things that I saw.
I had some really good photos on my camera of work I finished before I went away, but lost my camera on the first day in Italy! better than losing it at the end of the holiday...

Frame sites

I found these framing blogs sometime ago and have been meaning to post them on here for ages. Both have some great images and ideas for framing styles:

Gold Leaf Studios

naked art - a blog by an artist & framer

12/9/12 edit: Just been looking at this Tumblr blog, also a good website with some beautiful antique frames:

Cadres Lebrun (Tumblr)

Cadres Lebrun (Website)