This week I am mostly .....

[Roboframer]

...... making new washline samples!

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washline sample 1.jpg (138.54 KiB) Viewed 16250 times

These start with a panel next to the aperture, my favourite type.

More to come.

[Keith Hewitt]

Classy

[sable filbert]

Blimey, haven't seen a washline in blinking years......good old 'Thomas Ross' et al.

Should the question arise, do you supply other framers and what is the price per sq ft?

[Graysalchemy]

Well done I haven't done one of those since 1999.

Are they coming back into fashion

[baughen]

Great work. An opportunity to teach others that haven't acquired the skills?

[Roboframer]

They've never 'gone out of fashion, not here anyway; I think it's a case of most framers not wanting or being arsed to learn how to do it - therefore never knowing if they have a market - these are getting done because most of my existing set is tatty from handling.

I'd say 50% of washline jobs are to match something

Not sure about supplying the trade - well, doing it wouldn't be a problem; pricing might be!

Definitely willing to teach, come on down.

.

[prospero]

I haven't done one for quite some time, but as it happens I have one to do today. If I can remember how.

I have a few samples that have been knocking about for yonks, and I showed them to the (lady) customer. That's the trouble with samples - she took a look and commented that she didn't like the green line on one. They are all cut with 100mm margins which she thought were too wide for her painting. They weren't, but I explained (a number of times) that they could be any width. And the lines could be any colour/width/spacing. I don't think it totally sunk in then but WTH? I said that she would have to leave it to me to design the pattern and that it she genuinely hated it I would re-do it. But she would have to provide one to copy as I couldn't spend weeks doing 100s of samples until I hit the spot.

That could be part of the reason that framers don't tend to offer them.

[pramsay13]

They look great, but in over 5 years of framing I have only been asked once if I do them.
I dare say if I had some samples I would get asked, but not something I will rush out to learn.

[Roboframer]

I've never been asked for loads of stuff we do and I have also bought loads of stuff I never asked for - one thing is parked outside the workshop!

In fact if I only did what I was asked for I'd be selling a whole load of 25mm wide mounts and little black frames!

You do, also, have to explain that the colours used may not be the same as the samples, the mount board too - it's more a case of which arrangement of lines is preferred - it has to be left up to the framer to get it right, however these lines can be so subtle it doesn't really matter that much as long as it's there or thereabouts. We have about 40 sample corners plus a few complete things framed and on display in the shop.

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The three on the right have gold and sliver foil on a line of wundasize; the wide edged panels suit more modern stuff, the grey with silver edge has been used often on B&W photos and looks great.

The bottom one includes a sliver of reverse-bevelled gold mount board and a deep wrapped bevel.

More to come! I'm doing these each day after 3 pm and getting regularly interrupted.

[233ART]

I do supply "wash-line" mounts to customers, but 5 times out of ten I end up with a dot in the corners of the line.I think a lot of the trouble is that I don`t do enough of them to get the practice in.What do you think i`m doing wrong.I mainly tend to use Tombo double ended brush pens...
Pen...

[prospero]

Sling all the marker pens.

Get a decent ruling pen and get it run in. Once it's run in don't let anyone else use it.

[Roboframer]

These two use the exact same arrangement of lines as the ones in the first photo (which are done with my CMC embossing head, very lightly and then mark the corners with a WH (Well Hard) pencil) but look totally different

The gold line is REAL gold this time, but not leaf, shell gold - I have yet to find a gold ink/paint I am happy with bar this - it might be ever so slightly more expensive though!

[Roboframer]

The panel of colour above is narrower than any brush I have, I used to have some smaller flat ones but they just didn't hold enough water so I now use a much wider one on its side, with just the right amount of constant pressure to splay it out to the required width. Needs a steady hand, well, arm actually, you need to rest your forearm.

[Roboframer]

These are more traditional, a couple of lines near the aperture, a panel and then a couple more lines. Real Gold again but this time white gold transfer leaf.

washline 7 001.JPG (241.59 KiB) Viewed 15989 times

That'll do for now - here's the stuff I used for all of these.

washline 5 001.JPG (324.36 KiB) Viewed 15988 times

[Jamesnkr]

This is something I really want to learn to do. They're particularly good for brightening up watercolours wrapped in melinex in a browser. A double mount takes up an extra 2mm, reducing the number you can squeeze into a browser by one third. An embossed line is a very quick improvement too, but a wash line is real class.

So, any tips, Roboframer? (Or, indeed a step-by-step lesson!)

[Roboframer]

I do one-to-one (or two at a push) tuition and that's the best way by miles.

Otherwise, to start with, just get yourself a paint box, some flat brushes, a cheap mixing brush, a ruling pen, a good straight edge, a WH pencil and a corner marking gauge from Lion - or make your own. Then practice x 1,000 - remembering there is no such thing as "Too subtle".

Pencil is better for marking corners than a pin IMHO as paint can concentrate in the holes or even bleed under the surface paper.
You only need to draw (faint) pencil lines for the borders of wash panels.

Read or join this F Book group https://www.facebook.com/groups/FrenchMatting/

[Trinity]

Does anyone use the pen tool of a cmc for wash lines or is the end result not up to it?
They do look smart though, really smart

[prospero]

I had some mounted prints once with CMC washlines. They disappeared completely and I had to do them again.

So make sure you test the pens for lightfastness.

[Roboframer]

I class a washline mount as one that includes a panel of flat colour, which no CMC can do at the moment. Otherwise they're just 'lines' without the 'wash'.

CMCs are great at lines, especially if you want fancy ones, or ones that follow oval, arched and other shaped apertures, but you are limited in colour and tone and you can usually see a dark square where the lines overlap at the start/stop point.

With watercolour for example you can start with a wash that you can hardly tell apart from the mount colour and then add a drop more colour per concentric line.

[GeoSpectrum]

This is on (my rather long) list of things to learn. Are there any particular preferences for mount brands? Is one surface paper much like another or should I stick to one? Also, I assuming good quality flat sable are the way to go with brushes?