TRY YOUR HAND AT FRAMING
by Ted Holden

A frame has several purposes: To enhance and enclose a picture; to protect it; and to guard it, when necessary, against warping. For exhibitions it is usually asked that artistic works be suitably framed and glazed. Professional frame makers are skilled craftsmen who use sophisticated equipment. However, good frames can be made by the artist himself. A modest amount of equipment and workroom space is required, although practice is needed to cut well-fitting mitre corners and to give a wooden frame an appropriate surface texture.

The great advantage of a self made frame is that you can develop textures and colours which best suit your own paintings and drawings. Look out for old frames to put your pictures in. An inexpensive and convenient way of covering a moulding is with white emulsion paint tinted with powder colour. This is best applied thin and built up with a succession of coats or stipples, each being allowed to dry before the next coat is applied.

Securing the picture in the frame comes next, that is assuming that you have been accurate with measuring the picture. Always measure the four sides of a picture - follow the craftsman’s advice, measure twice and cut once. Small canvases and panels can be fixed in a frame with panel pins. Larger ones should be secured with small strips of wood which are screwed to the back of the frame to overlap the canvas stretcher. Drawings and prints should be backed by thin (3mm) hardboard. Glass should be picture glass; it’s clearer than window glass. Cutting glass should be left to the craftsman. You need the right equipment and the ability to apply the right amount of pressure and to draw the cutter across the glass at the correct speed. It’s not easy, practice is required.

Oh, and don’t forget, water colours, drawings and prints usually need a window mount to set them off. These provide a border around the picture and also keep it from touching the glass. Mounting boards come in a wide variety of colours and the choice is for you to make. The lighter colours I like the best and they don’t distract from the colours in the picture you have painted. Mind you, I have tried the darker colours too, but take care, try your picture in different mounts, then you are sure. So have go and have fun, and take care.

If all fails, get on to your local picture framer!

Ted Holden