The Framers Forum

Any tips for colour washing the outer 10cms of a mountboard. I thought this was going to be simply applying my washline technique to a wider format. Doing a wide colour wash seems to have some inherant problems due to the amount of moisture I am using to get an even flow of the wash - the board I am using - Teichert Conservation is designed to give good results when wash lined and I normally get good results from it - but I am experiencing pitting of the finished wash because too much moisture is soaking the board when applied as a very wide band.

The finish I am aiming for is a two tone wash - 10cms outer edges of board a full wash - seperated by a gold band - then a lighter wash of the first colour 2cms - finished with a wash line in the original outer colour. - Of course I am matching an existing mount and have to get everthing as close to the original as possible - I have the colours matched - and have managed to achieve good results on a small scale - start sloshing the stuff around on the full sized mount and the result isnt as good as I would like to see.

Hi,
An airbrush might be the answer. I often use one, but they can take a while to get the necessary confidence with one. They're great for staining effects on plain wood mouldings.
Cheers,
Mark

NYAF- Thanks - it was a realistic option - I trained as a graphic artist many years ago when the airbrush was a fairly standard piece of equipment and I know how to use one to a point that would confuse the digital generation - but its not the answer to producing realy good washes - but thanks for the sugestion.

Sounds like the problem is the board itself. Why not change it to a cotton one, that's what gives me the best washes.

Failing that even, why not paste or even dry mount a good quality and weight watercolour paper to mountboard and adjust your mountcutter blade depth accordingly?

The answer to my own question - just incase your going to try a very wide colourwash.
Board - Roboframers suggestion was good - the Cotton Rag board took the moisture more evenly than the Teichert - despite Tiechert being designed to take washes.
The board needs to be dampened evenly with water that has had a few drops of ox gall solution added.
The dampened board needs to be left for a few moments until any signs of surface water has disapeared.
The wash - made from a good quality watercolour mixed with water from the ox gall mix - made up to desired strength - carefully washed up to a drawn pin line - working quickly and evenly to get a nice even wash - dryed naturally then finished with lines - looks great.

In reality the technique is no more difficult than washline - but you have to make sure that you keep the whole border evenly damp - and your wash mixture well mixed. I only had one wide brush - you need two - one clean - one wash mix.

Mark, how much Ox Gall should you use for the average wash line (about 1 tablespoon of liquid) - a couple of drops? Never heard of the stuff to be honest and would love to know who thought it would be a good idea to use the contents of a cow's gall bladder to paint with!!?