"white" mountboard recommendations

[nolonstacey]

I'm sure this has been asked before, and I'm certain the answers will be varied, but I'm wondering what are the most popular 'white' mount boards. I've always mounted and framed my own work and hayseed has always worked well for me, so much so that it's all I've ever used. Now that I offer bespoke framing, I'm finding that hayseed is actually too creamy for lots of people - and paper - and white mouldings. Bright whites don't sit well with most papers. I have the full range of mount chevrons from Larson Juhl and Centrado (their own brand), but none of these are quite right either.

Larson Juhl's 'Glacier' is maybe the closest I've found within the chevrons I have as it's a tad less creamy than hayseed. I have a print at home that has a lovely white mount on it, but I have no way of knowing what board it is. The only way I'd describe that is 'milky'.

Here is one of my prints mounted with hayseed and you can see a 'pure white' mount just doesn't work.

So I know everyone will have multiple whites, but do you have a 'go to' white that you use more than any other? One that works with more papers than others?

[Rainbow]

I have lots of different whites to offer customers, but no matter how many you've got, there are some jobs where none of the white mounts look great against a painting with a white background. When that situation arises, a double mount often solves the problem by separating the white mount away from the white background of the painting. If the customer doesn't want a double mount, a black-core white can also help to remove any clash. If the customer is amenable to a coloured mount instead of white, that can work too. I realise that this doesn't answer your question of "which is your go to white", but that's not the way I would look at the problem of clashing whites.


PS. Had a look at your web site and I love your drawings

[nolonstacey]

Thanks for the reply Rainbow, and for the compliments on my work! I see what you mean and a double mount is a good idea. I usually double mount using the same board, but I can see how a different colours inner mount would separate it.

The paper I print on is classed as 'High white' but it's still very creamy when held against a pure white mount. I've never had an issue with Hayseed but I've noticed since framing other people's work, many find it too creamy.

[prospero]

Glacier and Hayseed are my go-to whites.

I also like Dawn Green (which isn't remotely green) for a greyer look and Chocolate Sunrise for more 'wheaty' tone.

You are right to be picky as if any bare paper is visible on the art then the mount colour can throw it all out of whack.

[Rainbow]

^ Is that Dawn Green as in Larson Juhl 8635? I used to like that one but I thought it had been withdrawn, is there another one, or is 8635 still going strong?


PS. Nolon - I've sent you a PM, in case you don't notice it.

[nolonstacey]

Thanks Prospero. Glacier did stand out to me as a good option for being just slightly paler than the hayseed. I bought a pack of Polar White from Centrado, but I don't like the pattern on it. it's a similar texture to Hayseed but with too pronounced horizontal and vertical lines every couple of centimetres.

[nolonstacey]

Thanks Rainbow - replied to your pm. Dawn Green does seems to still be listed on Larson Juhl's website, but it isn't included in their chevron box, so maybe in the process of being discontinued?

[Not your average framer]

Another point to consider is that not all makes of mountboard have the same degree of whiteness in the core material and it is possible to pick a white mountboard, only to find that the cut bevel is less white. It may be worth noting that both Larson Jhul and Daler mountboard have a much brighter white core material than Colourmount for example. This is not to say that a little lest bright white core is going to be a disadvantage. Sometimes a brighter white core material stands out too much and can really spoil the intended presentation.

Another thing is than not all mountboard thicknesses are going to be exactly the same thickness and quite small variations become bigger when a bevelled cut is made. Producing a double mount using two different manufacturers mountboard can look all wrong, as the cut bevels don't necessarily look the same width and it's very easy to spot the difference on a double mount not using exactly the same mountboard thicknesses.

[nolonstacey]

I noticed that exact thing while going through all the chevrons today. Some of the Centrado brighter white boards almost look like a cream core because the core stands out as being darker than the surface.

Good point about the thickness too. I do like a thick mountboard too, so it's always been nice with hayseed having the option of using either the1400 or 2400 micron boards. Obviously you don't have that option with all boards.

[Not your average framer]

Not all mountboards manufacturers produce the same thickness of thicker style boards and there are one, or two manufacturers who produce 2mm thick boards. They are thick enough to stand out, there is scope to look at the costs of the different thicknesses and the relative prices control your casts, if you so wish. Not every mountboard colour is available, in the thicker mouldboard types and sometimes it is necessary to peel off the facing paper from a thinner off cut of mountboard and do a wrapped bevel. After a while, I started doing painted edges and a small margin on thicker mounts, when I needed a different colour and eventually I started laminating two thicknesses of standard 1.4mm board together and cutting them into bevelled edge srips, which I wrapped and painted.

The resulting board thickness became 2.8mm and after wrapping the bevel with the facing paper peeled off from scrap strips of mountboard, I have made my own bevelled mountboard strips, much like the Neilsen Bainbridge bevel accents. It's a great way on turning your left over bits of mountboard and scraps into something saleable and usefully profitable. I don't try to cut the bevel edge all the way through in one cut, because I don't find that this produces the best result. A shallow cut at first, give the blade a groove to run in which halps to keep the blade on line, when cutting the thicker board thickness. I also do not like to use the peeled off facing paper from boards, which have an embossed texture. If I am going to be painting the papers afterwards, I like to use acrylic gouashe and this produces an amazing finish.

The Neilsen Bainbridge bevel accents are not cheap, so make sure that you charge accordingly for any that you make youself. Here's a little video about the techniques of using bevel accents it's worth watching if you have not seen it:-

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=neilse ... 9WmDvujZwE

Finally, it is not always possible to peel the facing paper off from all makes of mountboard. I don't remember things very well after my stroke, but I think that I am right in saying that it is not usually possible to easily peel the facing papers off from Larson Jhul mountboards. I use Colourmount boards and it's quite easy to peel away the facing papers from these.

[Chris_h]

My most popular is Larsons Snow White which is not classed as a conservation board, but does work well with a lot of fine art giclee papers. My next most popular is Glacier, but this does have a bit more of a contrast when placed next to a lot of the giclee papers.

[Not your average framer]

I like to use acrylic goashe on deep bevelled mounts, as it produces such a silky smooth looking finish and makes my sample deep bevel mount chevrons look really stunning. I hardly ever buy extra thick mountboard, but produce my own deep bevel mount strips from my scrap mountboards strips instead. I show samples of these to my customers and they choose these instead of thicker mountboard. They just look stunning and the deep bevelled mounts simply sell themselves.

[nolonstacey]

Thanks for the info all. Mark, I’ve never thought of peeling off the surface before! I’m going to have to look into that.

I’ve done deep bevel mounts before using tape and foam board, like the attached.

[Not your average framer]

I'm not the originator of this technique on this forum. I learnt about from an ex-forum member who posted about it on the forum. He is not on the forum anymore, but it might be possible to search for and find the original thread. If I can find it I'll try and post the details.

[Not your average framer]

If you do a search on this forum for "Bevel accents" it will find most of the threads on this subject and I think that you will find it interesting!

[Justintime]

MInuet is the one I use most. The printmakers I know use a variety of papers. Minuet, Cloud White or Rainshimmer work for each of them.
I agree with Rainbow and would add that a contrasting mount (eg a cream against a white paper) can work and serve to highlight the piece.
I find that matching mounts to bright white papers is just hard on the eye a lot of the time and doesn't always elevate the piece.

[nolonstacey]

Thanks Justin
Minuet was one I shortlisted. I totally agree with what you say about contrasting the mount to the paper, especially if it’s a bright white paper. The hayseed can sometimes look a bit too contrasting. And, even though I’ve used it exclusively for my own work for 16 years now, I’m finding my bespoke customers aren’t choosing it

[nolonstacey]

If you do a search on this forum for "Bevel accents" it will find most of the threads on this subject and I think that you will find it interesting!

Mark. I did just that and you’re right, there’s a lot of info in it. The way I’ve done it in the past is exactly like the video you posted, just making my own out of bevel tape and foam board

[Not your average framer]

I find that matching mounts to bright white papers is just hard on the eye a lot of the time and doesn't always elevate the piece.

Hi Justin,

I agree with you completely. I go really big on muted colours and I've been doing it for years. I love the thick wrapped bevel look, but I don't like "the over the top" high impact colours. I go for the understanded look, but it still needs to be very classy. I also like thick wrapped bevels, wrapped with vintage style papers, but I often dull the brighter tones in decorative papers, with some antique Black Bison pine paste wax, mixed with some neutral wax to tone down the antique pine to make it more subtile. I just like that vntage aged look and it's not hard to do!

[Not your average framer]

Hi Nolon,

I'm glad that you found it worth looking at. I also like matching features of thick wrapped mount bevels with something on stacked moulding frames. I'm not so keen on the 5mm deep wrapped mount bevels as trying to match them with something on the frame can't be subtile and understated with 5mm deep bevels. It's just to much for me, so I prefer just 3mm wrapped mount bevels instead, with very minimal strips of the same paper showing from between a narrow and a wider stacked moulding combo.

The exposed strip of decorative paper is always only about 3mm being visible and I like to tone it down somehow. I'm always going for the understated look. Like they say, less is more!