The Framers Forum

Hi all,

Resently a lot of people have come too me to stretch "oils" an canvas that they bought at the door. I have also seen them on ebay starting from £1.
I am convinced that they are produced using some type of textured printing process, but have no proof or explanation of the method used.

Have anyone else come across these, and what are your opinions on them







Regards,

Stephen

Stephen,

Those might be "Hong Kong Oils". The first one seems to have brush marks outside the edges, which is a pretty good indication that they are done by hand.
If they were printed, the edges would most likely be straight and even.
They just look typically like the "HK oils" that we get down here! They are sold door to door and usually by visitors to Australia who often claim that they painted themselves.
Some company imports them at a very low price then employs backpackers, who need money, to sell them door to door at a much higher price. I have customers who have paid hundreds of dollars for them and were under the impression that they have bought something quite valuable. This has been going on for at least twenty years now.

The company who gave me my original training as a framer sells quite good quantities of these imported oils. I was told that the original directors of the company used to travel to Hong Kong or Taiwan and buy them direct from the factory.

Apparently, it's quite a mechanised process, the base-coat colour is oil paint mixed with putty. This is heated and applied by something similar to a silk screen printing method. Although it is not dry, the other colours can be painted on top as soon as it cools without any problems and a different employee has the job of applying each colour. As they are finished, they are interleaved with cling-film or something similar and stacked, packed and exported.

I had to stretch some of these oils while I was there and the paint was still quite soft. I've heard that they don't sell as well as they used to, but some suppliers can arrange oils to be painted to order from photographs and the profit margins are quite attractive. The company who trained me sold loads during their sale times.

The back packers around our area even try to sell them to me, saying that they are working through art college and would I like to buy one of their paintings, they appear to be young and not necessarily able to speak good english. However, somebody still gets the work of stretching and framing them.
Cheers,
Mark

True Mark,
I get business from them, but my customers have these "great" stories about supporting Hungerian/Israili/ Russian "artists" and how it is a great "investment". It breaks my heart to tell them that they only have an aesthetic value as i feel it is my job to advise them they have been robbed, some pay hundreds of euro for these, including family and close friends! And when i try to inform them, I'm wrong !! not the liar who sold it !


Steve

Mark

It’s called busting some ones bubble…………….it never makes anyone popular

Rgs

Dermot

PS
Remember beauty is in the eye of the beholder ……………

I am yet to encounter a customer who has paid a large sum for one of these and I do tactfully tell my customers what they've bought, without rubbing their noses in it, so to speak. However, in general they still want it framed and one or two of these customers have become regulars.
Cheers,
Mark

I must have framed about 20+ of these this year.

Having an art college not that far away (Falmouth College of Art), there are lot of students, prowling the streets, with large 'portfolios' under their arms, claiming that these oils are there own !!

One gentleman, I believe got 'sucked in' by the beauty of a female student, studying at Falmouth, yet claiming to be from Krakow (sp) Art college and needed some more funds to complete her degree.

He paid £90 for a 24" x 30" monochrome oil of the Eiffel tower. That is before he had it framed. He was not a bit phased when I told him that I could have sold him the same for half that price. He said "Well she looked like she needed the money".

Another lady did a good bartering job and got hers for £19.

They come into the shop and try and sell me their 'originals' until I get a catalogue out and show them 'their' originals. Whooooooosh!!! they are gone!

Buyer beware !!

Blue canvas = crap!

Hash Painting is the term I like. But sure, someone likes it, we're here to frame it, not criticise, it's when I hear "Oooh - it's costing me 10 times more than I paid for it to frame it" that I have to bite my tongue

(Yes Missus - but if it were the Mona Lisa .............)