Hi all,
just a quick question...
I noticed that all of the Levels of Framing seam to apply to paper art. How do you rate the level for paintings on canvas,done in acrylic or oil, as there is no mountboard, hinging and often no glass.
insights and comments please.
regards,
steve
F.A.T.G. framing levels - oils and acrylic
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absolute framing
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SquareFrames
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Oils & Acrylics
Hi Steve,
Most framers dont think there is much to be done to an oil on canvas to protect it from outside influences and also impurities from the stretcher bars, etc., but there is a lot that can be done to protect it.
1. When I frame quality oils I always line the stretcher bars with either Conservation board or rag board, sometimes adding (if I and the customer think it warrants it) some polyester padding (wadding), this will protect the back of the canvas from the impurities in the bars. I also leave a little extra tolerance in the frame size, as the wedges have to be placed in, forcing the stretcher bars apart for canvas tension.
2. I always line any frame that comes into contact with the edges of the canvas with conservation tape, to protect it from the impurities in the moulding.
3. I have got into the habit of covering the back of the cnavas with a piece of 2mm MDF and taping the whole package up like I would a watercolour frame, etc., this stops dust, and more importantly insects, spiders getting in behid the canvas and the bars, laying eggs, having nookie, and producing young, and spiders webs, etc. The movemnet of the bars is normally minimal, so covering like this isnt a problem.
4. Doing all this at the back is all well and good, but the canvas is still open at the front, that can be and usually is left open and can if required be cleaned and restored, some clients have noe got into the trend of glazing the front, bit only if there is sufficient gap between the front of the canvas and the inside of the glass, the gap should be at least 25mm to stop oxidation of the paint, and stop the glass from touching the canvas. Other peole say oils needs to breathe and shouldnt be glazed, thats wrong, glazing does no harm to an oil painting at all. I would use for clarity (if the customer would pay for it) Truvue Conservation glass, I have heard others use Dengalss Water White glass, but it has no protection at all, its just looks as if its not there....Plain Float glass offers some protection, and would suffice.
Acrylics on board are treated the same, except they can be finihsed off with a backing board and taped up as normal.
I always use at least 2 frames, sometimes more, depending on the subject, size of canvas, and of course what the client wants, (but minimum 1 slip and then frame the slip) and have done so for the past 300 years (god it seems that long). Glass goes in between the slip and outer frame, or if 1 slip and 2 frames are used, the glass goes between the two outer frames.
After all that, I ask the customer to bring the canvas back every 5 years or so for re-tensioning of the canvas, replace the wedges, cord, wire, etc. Some do, some dont. Cant win?
Hope that helps?
Steven
Most framers dont think there is much to be done to an oil on canvas to protect it from outside influences and also impurities from the stretcher bars, etc., but there is a lot that can be done to protect it.
1. When I frame quality oils I always line the stretcher bars with either Conservation board or rag board, sometimes adding (if I and the customer think it warrants it) some polyester padding (wadding), this will protect the back of the canvas from the impurities in the bars. I also leave a little extra tolerance in the frame size, as the wedges have to be placed in, forcing the stretcher bars apart for canvas tension.
2. I always line any frame that comes into contact with the edges of the canvas with conservation tape, to protect it from the impurities in the moulding.
3. I have got into the habit of covering the back of the cnavas with a piece of 2mm MDF and taping the whole package up like I would a watercolour frame, etc., this stops dust, and more importantly insects, spiders getting in behid the canvas and the bars, laying eggs, having nookie, and producing young, and spiders webs, etc. The movemnet of the bars is normally minimal, so covering like this isnt a problem.
4. Doing all this at the back is all well and good, but the canvas is still open at the front, that can be and usually is left open and can if required be cleaned and restored, some clients have noe got into the trend of glazing the front, bit only if there is sufficient gap between the front of the canvas and the inside of the glass, the gap should be at least 25mm to stop oxidation of the paint, and stop the glass from touching the canvas. Other peole say oils needs to breathe and shouldnt be glazed, thats wrong, glazing does no harm to an oil painting at all. I would use for clarity (if the customer would pay for it) Truvue Conservation glass, I have heard others use Dengalss Water White glass, but it has no protection at all, its just looks as if its not there....Plain Float glass offers some protection, and would suffice.
Acrylics on board are treated the same, except they can be finihsed off with a backing board and taped up as normal.
I always use at least 2 frames, sometimes more, depending on the subject, size of canvas, and of course what the client wants, (but minimum 1 slip and then frame the slip) and have done so for the past 300 years (god it seems that long). Glass goes in between the slip and outer frame, or if 1 slip and 2 frames are used, the glass goes between the two outer frames.
After all that, I ask the customer to bring the canvas back every 5 years or so for re-tensioning of the canvas, replace the wedges, cord, wire, etc. Some do, some dont. Cant win?
Hope that helps?
Steven
Someone Once Said 'Knowledge Is Power'
Down School of Picture Framing http://www.downschoolofpictureframing.co.uk
Ireland's Only Accredited Training School
GCF Examination Centre
Accredited Valiani Demonstration / Training Centre
Down School of Picture Framing http://www.downschoolofpictureframing.co.uk
Ireland's Only Accredited Training School
GCF Examination Centre
Accredited Valiani Demonstration / Training Centre
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markw
Steven
You can now get a low iron (waterwhite) Uv filter glass - it doesn’t have a non reflective coating - but its a vast improvement on "normal" glass. I think you could reasonably argue that good quality Oil colours are very robust when it comes to degradation under normal lighting conditions - the obvious problem being the atmosphere they are kept in - oil paint seems to attract smoke - or is it that people tend to hang oil paintings over fire places?
I often find the biggest problem with canvases is that customers want to use inappropriate mouldings - mouldings with insufficient rebate depth - all too often they look as if they ought to be able to handle a canvas - but add an allowance for out of square canvas - room to accommodate tightening and the list of ideal mouldings has just gone down dramatically.
The old fashioned way of keeping out dust has always been to put a finishing cover of black paper - its not as robust as board but does the job well and looks good.
Worst bug in the back of a picture so far - an enormous cockroach - it was on its own so i don’t think it had been getting much fun.
You can now get a low iron (waterwhite) Uv filter glass - it doesn’t have a non reflective coating - but its a vast improvement on "normal" glass. I think you could reasonably argue that good quality Oil colours are very robust when it comes to degradation under normal lighting conditions - the obvious problem being the atmosphere they are kept in - oil paint seems to attract smoke - or is it that people tend to hang oil paintings over fire places?
I often find the biggest problem with canvases is that customers want to use inappropriate mouldings - mouldings with insufficient rebate depth - all too often they look as if they ought to be able to handle a canvas - but add an allowance for out of square canvas - room to accommodate tightening and the list of ideal mouldings has just gone down dramatically.
The old fashioned way of keeping out dust has always been to put a finishing cover of black paper - its not as robust as board but does the job well and looks good.
Worst bug in the back of a picture so far - an enormous cockroach - it was on its own so i don’t think it had been getting much fun.
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SquareFrames
- Posts: 380
- Joined: Mon 23 Feb, 2004 9:37 am
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- Organisation: Dromore Picture Framing / Down School of
- Interests: Reading, relaxing, and funnily enough, its hard to stop thinking of framing
- Location: Dromore, Northern Ireland
- Contact:
Hi Mark,
Funnily enough Dave Woolass told me about the waterwhite uv glass last night (dropping names here, but I bought him a huge steak last night, needless to say he didnt leave much, and neither did I..hahahaha). But anyway, Dave was over for 2 days conducting GCF tests here and during each test we had ample time to discuss all aspects....(wish I had of taken notes)..anyhow..he is an advocate of the MDF backing on a canvas, or at least a covering. I must see who does that glass over here...remember we are slightly backward here when it comes to getting that kind of glass handily...takes more effort, cost and running around to get hold of that here, as no one will stock it. Comes down to price and who is willing to pay for it.
On that note, I conducted two tests 3 weeks ago over at DJ Simons and one of the candidates had used a paper covering on all his 3 pieces, to which I commented favourably on the note page. I like what he had done,although on a personal note, was a tad concerned on the total cost as he told me he used it for all his customers work, he assured me he priced accordingly. Good for him, I say, he even keeps the MDF backing free of dust. How many of us (including myself) would go to the bother of covering every frame we made?
Last time I seen a cockroach, I was dismantling an old shed in the garden, I admit (in front of any animal activists..sorry!) I tried to kill the darn thing as my niece jumped and screamed, dont know which was worse, her screaming or the cockroach.....hard to kill arnt they, and boy are they quick? I think if my wife seen one in the back of a canvas....she'd have the wholeplace fumigated while she sat at home.....women, eh?
I totally agree with you on customer choice of mouldings at times, that is where our skills not only as framers come in but also as salespersons. Some we win, some we loose, but we end up making a bad choice into a good frame.
Steven
Funnily enough Dave Woolass told me about the waterwhite uv glass last night (dropping names here, but I bought him a huge steak last night, needless to say he didnt leave much, and neither did I..hahahaha). But anyway, Dave was over for 2 days conducting GCF tests here and during each test we had ample time to discuss all aspects....(wish I had of taken notes)..anyhow..he is an advocate of the MDF backing on a canvas, or at least a covering. I must see who does that glass over here...remember we are slightly backward here when it comes to getting that kind of glass handily...takes more effort, cost and running around to get hold of that here, as no one will stock it. Comes down to price and who is willing to pay for it.
On that note, I conducted two tests 3 weeks ago over at DJ Simons and one of the candidates had used a paper covering on all his 3 pieces, to which I commented favourably on the note page. I like what he had done,although on a personal note, was a tad concerned on the total cost as he told me he used it for all his customers work, he assured me he priced accordingly. Good for him, I say, he even keeps the MDF backing free of dust. How many of us (including myself) would go to the bother of covering every frame we made?
Last time I seen a cockroach, I was dismantling an old shed in the garden, I admit (in front of any animal activists..sorry!) I tried to kill the darn thing as my niece jumped and screamed, dont know which was worse, her screaming or the cockroach.....hard to kill arnt they, and boy are they quick? I think if my wife seen one in the back of a canvas....she'd have the wholeplace fumigated while she sat at home.....women, eh?
I totally agree with you on customer choice of mouldings at times, that is where our skills not only as framers come in but also as salespersons. Some we win, some we loose, but we end up making a bad choice into a good frame.
Steven
Someone Once Said 'Knowledge Is Power'
Down School of Picture Framing http://www.downschoolofpictureframing.co.uk
Ireland's Only Accredited Training School
GCF Examination Centre
Accredited Valiani Demonstration / Training Centre
Down School of Picture Framing http://www.downschoolofpictureframing.co.uk
Ireland's Only Accredited Training School
GCF Examination Centre
Accredited Valiani Demonstration / Training Centre
-
markw
gone slightly off track here - but it was a german cockroach - like a leopard tank - only much faster - it certainly took some killing but I didnt want the little bugger scurrying around my shop - it just had to go.
Glass and Mirror are selling the Uv Filter Lowiron glass - Carl Smith of G & M did a realy good talk on Glass for the Cotswold FATG. He had some useful comments to make on the wavelength of light that damages media - the effects of uv filters etc - more to it than you might at first think.
Glass and Mirror are selling the Uv Filter Lowiron glass - Carl Smith of G & M did a realy good talk on Glass for the Cotswold FATG. He had some useful comments to make on the wavelength of light that damages media - the effects of uv filters etc - more to it than you might at first think.