Hand-Finishing Possibilities

[prospero]

I happened opon this frame finish trying to create something completely different. I think it goes well on papyrus-type thingies. It's done with a heavy coat of ripple paint and a graining comb. It's difficult to get a good photo, but you can see along the lower edge how the light reacts with the gold. (Sorry about the glass reflections.)



Click the pic for bigger image.

[Not your average framer]

Wow, Propero,

That's really nice! What a great idea!

Have you tried making stamping blocks for embossing the Ripple coat too? I haven't tried it yet, but the idea has been in my mind for some time now. I think there's a good chance of doing something good like that!

[framemaker]

Great looking finish!

I have seen a few mentions on the forum of ripple paint/coat, never heard of this before, is it a trade name or do you mix it yourself?

[prospero]

Great looking finish!

I have seen a few mentions on the forum of ripple paint/coat, never heard of this before, is it a trade name or do you mix it yourself?

No mystery. It's decorators stuff for ceilings and walls. I use Wickes brand (£10 for 5lt) but it's fairly generic stuff. I sometimes tint it with various pigments.

I think it may be too runny to hold a stamp immpression. Might work better if it had some filler added to make it more like putty, but this may affect adhesion. Only one way to find out. You can get interesting FX if you work it while it is half-dried. It starts to churn up a bit at this stage. Great rough-sawn timber if raked with a fork.

[prospero]

This one is a bit more subtle. Just radiating brushmarks. Red base stippled with diluted black and gilded. Followed by lighly rubbing back. gives a nice 'wrapped fabric' effect.

[Not your average framer]

It works quite well with thinner coats, where gravity has less effect than with heavier coats. So far I have not tried this with ripple coat, but it works quite well with acrylic paint thickened with cheap baby powder. It still needs to be quite thin to work well, so don't over do the baby powder. Thicker acrylic paints may not need any thickening at all.

Compacted screwed up aluminium foil works quite well for stamping blocks. I make up little mitred together boxes to compress the aluminium foil into and then smooth off the top with a bone folder, before embossing the surface design with old knitting needles, mancure implements and anything else which will do the job.

All the above implements came from my local charity shops. When finished, the resulting block is removed from it's little box and varnished. When the varnish is dried, the block is sprayed between impressions with silicone release spray. Care must be taken not to press too hard as these blocks don't last very long and soon lose their sharpness of detail.

When the resulting impressions in the paint are dry, they will require a suitable colour highlighting medium to be rubbed into the stamped impressions to allow them to show. The effect is more subtile than dramatic.

[prospero]

Hmmmmm....Must try that. I did a pair of small mirrors for a christening present once. I cut a couple of letter motifs (O and L - the initials of twins) on the mountcutter and stuck them on the frame corners. Then painted the whole frame. It was the customers idea, so a bit exp, but it looked quite good.

btw. Have you seen some of the frames in Simons ready-made cat?

[Not your average framer]

Have you seen some of the frames in Simons ready-made cat?

Yes, I've even thought about buying some to refinish.

There's also some interesting ready made frames from Arqadia with banded corner decoration, which I thought about copying the effect onto the middle moulding of a stacked set of three mouldings.

The idea would be to produce a sequenced set of very shallow grooves across the front face of the moulding by using the Morso. It's not as difficult as it may sound! All you need is a piece of wood to rest on top of the moulding being grooved and to advance the blades until they touch this piece of wood and then cut the groove into the moulding beneath. Spacing between grooves would be set using the normal Morso measurement system. Easy!

[prospero]

Good thinking. That way you can get the grooves to align with the corners. I sometimes use a router to do small mods to mouldings. Adding grooves, rounding edges and wotnot. It's a bit tricky as I only have a hand router. When I get my outside 'workshop' fitted out I hope to get some more woodworking gear. Router table, planer-thicknesser and a decent table saw. Then I can really go to town.

[Not your average framer]

Router table, planer-thicknesser and a decent table saw. Then I can really go to town.

How about one of those router lathes or an architectural mill to go with your router, so you can do "over the top" massive rope twist mouldings and all the other fancy stuff?

[Moglet]

When I get my outside 'workshop' fitted out I hope to get some more woodworking gear. Router table, planer-thicknesser and a decent table saw. Then I can really go to town.

Judging by the samples we've seen of your fabulous work, Prospero, I'd say it'll be less "town" and more "bright lights, big city"!

Loved the frame in your pic! A terrific inspiration to those considering undertaking HF work, and a great example of the artistry of a truly great framer.

[Not your average framer]

It's done with a heavy coat of ripple paint and a graining comb.......

you can see along the lower edge how the light reacts with the gold.

I must admit if it was not for Prospero starting this thread, I don't think I would have even thought about the possibilty of doing a finish like that. Once you have seen something like this, then you can begin to see the posibilities.

I hope that those thinking of taking the plunge with hand-finishing can see that we are all learning from each other and I trust that I am not alone in encouraging those who might be a little daunted by, but would like be able to do some hand finishing of their own, to give it a try. I'm not suggesting it will necessarily be instant success, but the secret is to try it and to practice until you get there.

It's not only the technique which needs learning, but the uses of colour too. I often get paint charts from paint stores and go through old moulding catalogues and try a figure out which colours work in different situations, different effects and why. I can recommend this approach as part of the getting hand finishing into your thinking.

I hope to hear of more forum members discovering their hand finishing talents which they never knew they had.

[prospero]

Judging by the samples we've seen of your fabulous work, Prospero, I'd say it'll be less "town" and more "bright lights, big city"!

Loved the frame in your pic! A terrific inspiration to those considering undertaking HF work, and a great example of the artistry of a truly great framer.

Well thanks muchly for those kind words. Flattery will get you everywhere. But bear in mind that my shed door is very narrow.

of sheds, I spent the afternoon doing some more clearing out. The previous owner was a railway enthusiast. I found two signal levers (about 7feet long) and a track marker I never knew was in there. Anyone want a Sinclair ZX-81 or a stack of '70s Hi-Fi mags? Or several large tins of gloss paint c.1968?

[framemaker]

Not your average framer wrote:
I must admit if it was not for Prospero starting this thread, I don't think I would have even thought about the possibilty of doing a finish like that. Once you have seen something like this, then you can begin to see the posibilities.

I hope that those thinking of taking the plunge with hand-finishing can see that we are all learning from each other and I trust that I am not alone in encouraging those who might be a little daunted by, but would like be able to do some hand finishing of their own, to give it a try. I'm not suggesting it will necessarily be instant success, but the secret is to try it and to practice until you get there.

I could not agree more, the possibilties for hand finishing are endless, and I think the best way to start is by making up barewood samples and just experimenting with different ideas. If you have the desire and are interested in doing hand finishing on frames then thats a good start and through trial end error you will soon get the basics.

There is always another technique or idea that someone else does that you can learn from, I see frames in galleries and always try and work out how a finish would be achieved. sometimes my experiments work and sometimes they don't, but I only find out after giving it a go. I look at my attempts and some are truly awful, other old samples I can't remember how I got a finish and there are a few that I use over and over again

The thing I love about hand finishing is there is always something new to learn or try out, I would encourage those thinking about trying it to have a go!

a couple of old experiments;

[Moglet]

I must admit that I'm really taken with the idea of textured effects.

Prospero, I've been meaning to ask another question about your Egyptian piece at the top of the thread. As well as the HF effect on the frame, I really like the mount that the papyrus is floated on. Is that more HF work?

[Spit]

I'd guess that it was sterling board, sanded flat & smooth, stained & varnished.

[Moglet]

How did you get on with the ripple paint, Steve?

[Spit]

Just had a little play on a short offcut, just to see how it goes on. Will try some more later.

[prospero]

I must admit that I'm really taken with the idea of textured effects.

Prospero, I've been meaning to ask another question about your Egyptian piece at the top of the thread. As well as the HF effect on the frame, I really like the mount that the papyrus is floated on. Is that more HF work?

Errr.. well it's not really a papyrus as such. It's actually painted on woven bark fibres. Same ilk though. It does look as though the centre black part is floated though. I was going to float the whole thing, but I didn't think the barky stuff would stay flat like papyrus. Check out the gilded bevel on the mount. Fiddly to do, but adds just that little something extra.

I hope those glyphs don't say anything too rude Mark. Joking apart, I like to see this type of artwork ("ethnic", for want of a better term) in a frame that suits it. The traditional European designs often clash. I like doing Oriental art in particular.

I have a big Austrailian aboriginal painting to do at the mo. It's oil on canvas, but the design is traditional, lots of little dots. I'm toying with a few ideas, but I'm thinking a sun-bleached wheathered wood effect.

[Moglet]

Check out the gilded bevel on the mount.

Already spotted!

I like to see this type of artwork ("ethnic", for want of a better term) in a frame that suits it. The traditional European designs often clash.

Oh so true!

I have a big Austrailian aboriginal painting to do .... the design is traditional, lots of little dots.

I find it curious how certain common traits appear in art of different ethnicities. Celtic art also uses those little dots for emphasis, too. They're usually red, and the technique is referred to as "rubrication."