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My most popular painted bevel design.

Russ Wood

Frequent Poster
Messages
697
Location
Lakewood Colorado
Company
Grey Owl Framing
Someone earlier mentioned that a lot of activity is on Facebook groups, and not as much on Framers Corner. So I will share.

This is a piece I framed for a customer on the East Coast. This is the original artwork used for a "plate" in Rare Birds of North America. The artist is Ian Lewington, a well known bird artist, from Great Britain.

Although I like fancy mat decorations, they don't sell as well as a simple single painted bevel on a 3 window mat combination. The bevel is a dark silver grey (not black). This particular combination is one of my more popular combinations.



2015-frame-ducks-Jessie.jpg
 
Very Nice Russ! That design right there should win framing competitions. We try sooo hard to go over the top when a "pure" design like this is perfect!!
 
Your mats are always beautiful, Russ. Just out of curiosity, do you ever use black core or other colored core mats? It seems like for this specific design, a BC mat would be less labor intensive.
Just curious.
:cool: Rick
 
Your mats are always beautiful, Russ. Just out of curiosity, do you ever use black core or other colored core mats? It seems like for this specific design, a BC mat would be less labor intensive.
Just curious.
:cool: Rick

I used to but I really don't anymore.

My reasoning is that I can make more by painting a bevel than buying a core colored mat, and I have more options for color, and as I tell my customers, it is "hand painted", not vat dyed. It is truly "custom" for your particular piece.

My price for a single color painted bevel is the same as a window mat [of my collector package mats] of the same size. And sometimes I also end up getting a 3rd mat in the design, the one that is painted. Or many times, they only want a single mat but when I show them the painted bevel, it is an easy sell, just having me add an accent color on the one, or mostly, adding a second mat of the same color as the first mat, but with the painted bevels. And I can cut both mats out of the same sheet!

I do enough painted bevels that I have my labor times down pretty good, I allow 15 minutes for 16 or 20 or smaller. but it is generally around 8 minutes for a solid color, as follows:

1. Set-up and Cleanup [5 minutes]
This includes taping, pulling the tape off later, and lifting by box of acrylics about 2 feet from under the work table, getting water, getting a scrap piece of glass, washing brushes, tools, at the end of the session.

2a. Apply Base color [3 minutes for 16 x 20 mat]
Single color out of acrylic jar onto glass, wet brush slightly, mix in acrylic and brush with wide flat brush.

2b. Apply Mixed Base color if regular base color not in my set of colors. [5 minutes for 16 x 20 mat] If I need to mix the base color from 2 or 3 different colors, I add about 2 minutes to get the second color and mix well, 3 minutes to apply for total of 5.

3. Additional accent colors - up to 4 -[1.5 minutes per color]. I apply accent colors with paper, sponge, etc., etc,.

For this particular piece I allow 15, but I estimated actual times as Set-up and Cleanup [5 minutes] and base color [3 minutes] for a total of 8 minutes. Actual time was 10 minutes because I had not used this particular dark silver-grey before and it was very thick and had pieces of graphite in it so I had to spend more time to mix.

Also, on this particular piece, the top two mats (one with painted bevel and one without) are the same mat so I could cut from the same 32x40 piece, which saves time [ordering, receiving,] and money. If I would have used a colored core, I would have needed to order another mat.

I believe my time estimates are very accurate, for me. Last night I was doing two separate jobs, each with an acrylic jar color base, and then 5 accent colors, and my time was around 25 minutes for the 2. And I did a quick wash of brushes between the first and the second. And no color cores can give on the beauty of a hand painted variegated bevel.

For some pieces, If I was using a level II mat, instead of the Level I here, and I needed only a single color, (the same color as one of my inks, or watercolors), I have a quick an dirty way of painting, that takes less than 5 minutes, including clean up time.
 
You really do have this "down to a science". :thumb:
One of my favorite tricks is to do an inner mat with variegated color/texture as you describe, quickly painting both the bevel and some of the surface as messily as desired, and then using the top mat (usually 1/8" reveal) to simply mask the painted mat into an instant "work of art". I've also done some fun things by "windmilling" in the colored bevel below the top mat (as one would install a BevelAccent). I sometimes do this with 4 different colors of BriteCore board strips to create a "Magic Color-changing Bevel".
:cool: Rick
 
You really do have this "down to a science". :thumb:
One of my favorite tricks is to do an inner mat with variegated color/texture as you describe, quickly painting both the bevel and some of the surface as messily as desired, and then using the top mat (usually 1/8" reveal) to simply mask the painted mat into an instant "work of art". I've also done some fun things by "windmilling" in the colored bevel below the top mat (as one would install a BevelAccent). I sometimes do this with 4 different colors of BriteCore board strips to create a "Magic Color-changing Bevel".
:cool: Rick

I'm kind of doing what you suggest today with 8-ply variegated strips, in pin-wheel fashion for an Audubon Magpie reproduction from a 1950's reproduction set of James Audubon birds. It is for one of my used book dealers. Window mats bottom to top are 1) solid rag; 2) solid rag with variegated painted bevel; 3) 8-ply solid rag strips with variegated painted bevels; 4) solid rag. He wants the colors on each of the painted bevels to be slightly different, but to be somewhat iridescent to match the magpie. It is all done except for the 8-ply which I just finished the base coat. Got to finish it tonight so it is ready tomorrow. He said this is for his "personal collection", but apparently he doesn't mark up my Matting costs if he resells, which is great for his customers. And he has others from this same collection!

I never thought of the 4 colors of the BriteCore board for a "Magic Color-changing Bevel". I will need to add that to my repertoire. It sounds like it would be great for kids pictures! And for Halloween. I can see a photo of a child dressed up as "Pipi Longstocking" and your "Magic Color-changing Bevel" matching the color of their socks. Thanks for the idea.:first:

Adding: I know that Golden has some really bright fluorescent acrylic colors, but they are apparently not stable, so in your example, the BriteCore would probably be better than painting.
 
Wow, Rick.

I like that idea. Do I have your permission to steal it?

I particularly like the idea of having different bevel colors for the sides and top of the window as you do. Great!
 
Probably 30 years ago, we cut a metal frame with 2 side of one color, another side of a second color, and the final side with a third color. This matched the color and design the four bar logo being framed.

There's no reason you couldn't combine the frame with a multi-color bevel.

Andrew
 
Sorry for the late reply. Sure, steal away. Another possibility might be, let's say, a frame with black top and bottom rails and white side rails, with the inner mat bevel alternating white top and bottom with black sides.
:cool: Rick

(I'll have to make up a sample of this to hang in the shop.):eagerness:
 
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