Painting Frames

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GeoSpectrum
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Painting Frames

Post by GeoSpectrum »

A lot of the frames I make are painted, with a HVLP sprayer or by hand. I've been using Valspar paint from B&Qfor a while but was wondering what others use? I've been considering Chalk Paint and have tried a few testers and it seems ok if a little thin. I'm thinking it may act a a grain filler and top coat if I can find the right one. Any recommended brands or teqniques that I should try?
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Re: Painting Frames

Post by prospero »

Depends what effect I am trying to achieve.

For grain filling I start with a basecoat(s) of the good old Ripple Paint, which Wickes no longer do but B&Q do a good substitute
under the brand name Diall - Multiripple. Also use it tinted with acrylic for dusty washes.

For top-coating in general I use artist's quality Acrylics. They are much tougher and cover better than pre-mixed decorating paints.
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Re: Painting Frames

Post by vintage frames »

Really good to hear from someone spray painting their frames. I'm sure they look magnificent. As you were asking what alternatives to branded household paints, I would concur with Prospero where he advises on grain filling first and then you have a much wider choice of top coat. Take his advice and experiment with some artists acrylic colours. I know he advises artist quality paints, but you might at first find the student quality range easier to work with.Please don't go down the chalk paint route - it's a huge cliche now, ( sorry A. Sloan ).
If you're painting onto obeche, then the grain is a bit obvious and boring, so grain filling with some ripple paint as suggested or even a few quick strokes of traditional gesso will improve the surface. I should add that using gesso will give a much better result and is actually much easier to sand back. But if that is too frightening, then open a tin of paint.
On oak or other hardwoods then the grain will add an atractive feature to the finish, so no grain filling is needed. In fact the finish can often look better if cut back with 00 wire wool before waxing.
A further point is to make your own wax with beeswax and turpentine, You get a much "drier" finish and this is currently very much in vogue.
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Re: Painting Frames

Post by prospero »

I should add that if I want a non-grainy surface I always paint over with fine-surface pollyfilla. Scrub it into the wood with a
stiff, knackered old brush. Wet the brush first. Bit like the olde shaving soap. Wipe off excess with a J-cloth and sand back
when completely dry. This process will also fill any dings and gaps. :lol:

Acrylic paint is very amenable to waxing. It buffs up to a nice not-too-glossy finish. A dusting of Rottenstone while the wax
is still soft and before the final buffing adds that bit of age.

I'm just about to do one - I'll take some pics. :)
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Re: Painting Frames

Post by poliopete »

As I don't paint as many frames these days as you guys I find the small (22ml) tubes Daler/Rowney original acrylic ideal. It is quick to apply, dries quickly, and is both durable and economical. If I were finishing a larger number of frames I would buying the larger 500ml pots.

I have enough of the "good old Ripple Paint" for filling the grain to last me a life time :? so I have not tried any other brand. Tinting the Ripple Paint is a brilliant tip I picked up from Prospero some time ago and well worth bearing in mind.

I applied Liberon wax to a finished frame pre lunch and I will buff it soon. Hard work, but I find I get a drier finish by leaving the wax on longer.

Amongst other things I would love to try spraying the frames but there is just not enough hours in the day :(

BTW, I love Saturdays. Old fashioned I know, but with most customers coming in to collect an pay. :giggle:
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Re: Painting Frames

Post by prospero »

I got a bit of a shock when Wickes fired the ripple paint so when I did find a viable substitute I stocked up a bit.
Got 2 x5L tubs on the shelf and another half-used. :lol:

A word about Acrylics.....

I tried some student quality once and it was OK except for the fact that it was soluble when dry. So you put on a second coat
and wipe the first one off in the process.

Some pigments are inherently fugitive. Used by illustrators who want bright colours but the work itself
is essentially disposable once reproduced. Stick to the 'earthy' colours which are very permanent. Your Ochres/Umbers and wotnot.
Often they are graded AA A B C. Avoid the Cs.

Some pigments are transparent and it's nigh-on impossible to build up a solid colour surface using them alone.
Such as Ultramarine Blue/Viridian Green/Alizarin Crimson. Are very intense colours and useful for mixing but not really good to use neat.

What's on my shelf.....

Titanium White
Mars Black
Raw Umber
Burnt Umber
Burnt Sienna
Raw Sienna
Titanium Buff
Hookers Green
Ultramarine Blue
Red Iron Oxide

You can mix virtually anything with that lot. :D
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Re: Painting Frames

Post by vintage frames »

Prospreo has said it in one. Buy all those colours and keep mixing 'till you get something close to what is in your mind's eye. One way is to paint alongside an old frame or a painting even. Try to imagine whether the colour you're creating would look good around that art work.
But I'm going to say - bin the rottenstone. Why? Because it's not a pigment and it has an unfortunate side effect of deadening the life out of any finish it's used upon. Look around any high quality antique furniture shop. All the finishes are bright and lively. If you get your colours right then there's no need to ruin everything by dusting with rottenstone. It's obvious and horrible.Should we care? Well yes, because I'd like to think that we can all aspire to be as excellent as possible. And after all,beauty sells!
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Re: Painting Frames

Post by prospero »

Raw black paint.
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Re: Painting Frames

Post by prospero »

Liberally dust with rottenstone. ( :lol: )
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Re: Painting Frames

Post by prospero »

...Then try and rub it all off. :roll:
flemish003.jpg
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*I take the point about rottenstone, but I maintain that used sparingly it does add something. These are frames and
not furniture. It also acts as an abrasive (it's true purpose) which imparts a nice soft sheen.
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Re: Painting Frames

Post by StevenG »

Peter, this might be a stupid question but..... (it's never stopped me before I suppose) on your black frame - was the paint almost dry when you dusted it with the rottenstone? Or what part of the process did it happen? Cheers :)
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Re: Painting Frames

Post by vintage frames »

And I see where you're coming from but I still maintain that instead of adding something, rottenstone takes it away. But good advice to using it sparingly. We'll agree to differ. If anyone bothers to take my advice on making their own wax, they'll find it provides a soft velvety finish on its own with only two coats. And on another point - frames are furniture!
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Re: Painting Frames

Post by cleaver »

prospero, any particular makes? Stuff like Windsor & Newton OK, or do go for top-end artists' acrylics?

And what is this ripple paint stuff you speak of?! Never heard of it!

Great thread, folks :clap:
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Re: Painting Frames

Post by poliopete »

Cleaver wrote "Great thread, folks" :clap:

Threads regarding "hand-finishing" frames never fail to generate fascinating responses :D

You enquire "what is this Ripple Paint stuff". Enter "Ripple Paint" in the search box at the top right-hand corner of the page, loads of info' including a recipe from Vintage Frames on how to make your own :wink:
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Re: Painting Frames

Post by prospero »

featurepiece wrote:Peter, this might be a stupid question but..... (it's never stopped me before I suppose) on your black frame - was the paint almost dry when you dusted it with the rottenstone? Or what part of the process did it happen? Cheers :)
The paint was totally dry. I slapped on the wax with a brush, worked it well into the crevices and the wiped off the excess.
Don't buff it at this point. Wait about an hour for the solvent in the wax to dry and then dust it. The dust will stick to the wax
residue in the depressions. Then buff it up with a yellow duster. :D


Ripple paint is a generic term for extra thick paint designed for filling minor cracks as you apply it. On frames, you can mess around
with it to form a textured surface (a bit like Artex). It will hold brushmarks if you apply it undiluted. Stippling, combing etc.....
It only comes in White and although you can tint it to pastel shades there is a limit to how dark you can go. Black Acrylic Gesso does
very much the same job for a frame needing a dark base. Way more expensive though.... :roll:
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Re: Painting Frames

Post by GeoSpectrum »

Going back to an earlier reply form NYAF, why steer clear of chalk paint? Isn't it the results rather than a cliché name that matters? Perhaps it it were called something else?
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Re: Painting Frames

Post by vintage frames »

No, that was me that said that. I always associate chalk paints with those frilly painted furniture shops with lots of bunting, slogan art on boards and cut-out wooden hearts on string. Fine if you want to be part of all that but using it on frames can be a bit obvious now. But go ahead and see if you can do anything with it.
In the spirit of trying to encourage and inspire more towards handfinishing, I would suggest using the established F&B colours as a base coat and then adding some extra complexity such as over glazes and multi-layering. F&B are a very successful company that has spent much time and research into developing their colours and these have been eagerly adopted by the buying public. So using them as a background wouldn't be such a bad business decision.
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Re: Painting Frames

Post by prospero »

I've tried various speciality paints, F&B, Fired Earth, Little Green, etc with mixed results...

Most are a bit thin for my liking. Some are not compatible with overcoats of acrylic it seems. A customer of mine who
has repeat frames in a certain mix of colours got some Fired Earth testers that were the right colour straight out the tin.
Good idea in principle, but parts of the frames have to be powder gilded and this requires a basecoat of Red Oxide acrylic
which would normally be applied over the feature colour. I said I would have to 'road test' it and just as well I did as the acrylic
does not bond properly. The red/gold layer flakes off. So much to that. :cry:

So now I am very windy about introducing new paints as I know the system I use is sound. If it ain't broke and all that..... :clap:
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Re: Painting Frames

Post by Not your average framer »

I like to mix the Craig & Rose 1829 chalky emulsion match pots with much the same colour acrylics paints. The intention behind this being that some acrylic paints do not dry as matt as i would like, but on the other hand, using purely chalk paints can look a bit ameratur and it's not all that durable without adding a decent amount of acrylic into the mix.

I agree with everything that both Prosperro and Vintage Frames are saying, they may appear to be having a differernce of opinion, but you have to recognise that they both have a particular result that they like to be known for. I use quite a lot of Ansterdam and Acrylicos Valleyjo acrylic paints, but I am careful to select colours that are lightfast and mix well.

I like to soften my blacks a little with something else mixed into the black as I don't like my black to be really hard blacks, really hard blacks are not something that you usually encounter in nature and I tend to think that is a good reason to tone it down a little, often with a tiny touch of an opaque darkish brown, but there are times when I add a little bit different colour as that what a particular job needs.

I also like to use washes and glazes over opaque colours to acheive more subtile effects. Farrow and Ball match pots are particularly good for thinnig down to make soft and subtile washes, but I like to add a little bit of Polyvine dead flat varnisn into the mix to maintain the strength of the binder in the paint as you water it down,
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Re: Painting Frames

Post by vintage frames »

So-o agree with you on the blacks. If we look at the antique Hogarth frame we all have in our workshops, then you can see how the black finish has a muted tone, no matter how well polished.
One way to simulate that is to add in some dry black pigment to whatever paint or black varnish you use. I use Mineral Black pigment from Fiddes. What happens is the extra pigment now sits on the surface of the paint and this scatters the light, the same way dust on a dark surface looks grey or white.I'd say mix a heaped teaspoonful to 300ml of paint or varnish.
Then of course you can wax over it with the homemade wax you've already taken my advice on.
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