distressing/ageing frames and mats - help!

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Welcome to the Grumble but do tell us more about your project.

Acrylic paint easily darkens most frames, you could also whack the frames with a chain or a chunk of concrete to get that "distressed look" - old timers used to make "fly specks" and as for mats, I usually pick out one of the darker ivory/sand/beige tones to tell the customer that these look like they would have started out white or cream 100 years ago.

I think I would skip the dead bugs, water stains, and mildew of old mats......
 
Welcome to the "G", tissy.

Usually my repair work on frames is just the opposite. Take the old and make it look new. However I have done some "aging" of frames, usually when completely refinishing a frame.

A lot depends on the look you are trying to achieve. Several methods can be employed including taking a chain and whipping the frame to introduce stress marks, using oil colors and a dry stiff brush to create patterns, wiping on oil paint or stain and letting it semi-dry and then wiping it off, using rotten stone both to abrase the surface or give the appearance of dustiness... the list goes on.

Experimentation produces interesting results.
 
tissy said:
Any ideas or suggestions on quickly distressing frames and mats to make them look 100 years old would be greatly appreciated!
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You could use a wholesale supplier like Munn Frameworks (800-322-6464) that specialize in frames that have excellent antiqued finishes. I use Crescent and Bainbridge solid core mats - no white bevels - to match the color of antique paper in old art.
 
Watercolors for the mats. Acrylics work on frames and gilt (non karet gold) surfaces, though are difficult to work with as they dry so fast, and then are not redissolvable.

I use Japan colors as a wash with V,M, & P Naptha; not your average art material; try sign makers supply.

Artists oil colors, thinned with mineral spirits to a wash works well, though tends to take some time to dry, then is glossy. For dust, rottenstone, sometimes with dry pigments added to alter the color.

Check the library for books on Faux Finishes, marbleizing, etc.

Experiment, and play. One thing I've noted is that different people will respond to certain materials more than others; that's the play part. It can be a "dance", toning a frame. Dirty, too.

Good luck.
 
For the mat I like to use hard pastels. I use a x-acto knife and scape small amounts around the outside edge of the mat then use a soft brush to work it into the mat. This will mimic acid burn from the frame. I try to use two of three shades of pastels for the best effect.
The technique is close to that of french matting.

For the frame their are many ways to age it, but it all depends on the finish of the frame.

I will try to post a few pics later today.
It just so happens that I have to do one of these today.
 
I am not saying this suggestion is either good for archival quality or right for this project, but I do remember being taught in art classes that tea could be used to give paper an aged look. You can play with different types of tea (black, green, white) as well as with painting it on or simply using the wet teabag to apply the color. You can also hold a magnifying glass over the mat in the sunlight to try to create some burn spots if you want that severly abused look. Its amazing all the things they tell you to try in art school. What ever you do, I hope you learn some cool tricks from all the suggestions and through experimentation.
 
Acrylic paint solves all ills here.......Do this all the time,I love aged stuff! L.
 
I love listening to people who have never done something go on about something that they heard from someone who also had never done it. It's called an "do nothing, pants on, circle jerk".

For General Future Information:

  • IF you had ever seen the mark left by a "chain" hitting a piece of wood, you would never repeat the idiotic words "just beat it up a bit by hitting it with a chain". 1) gee, how big of a chain were you suggesting: tire snow chains? Anchor? The gold bling chain on your neck? Chains that are large enough, leave a set (string) of like shaped dents that do not occur any other way. So just don't. Don't do it and don't tell others to do it.
  • Beating with a hammer is exactly the way a maid in the 1910s would have "cleaned and polished" a piece of furniture.... don't.
  • Like wise jabbing it with a Philips or flat screw driver...... unless you want a zillion little crosses or "X"s all over your frame.
  • "just hit with some sandpaper".... here try my random orbital sander with some nice hail sized 40 grit..... it will make the job go faster. :icon11:
  • I have about 47 other things not to do.. but they won't fit. :fire:
My "Antiquing" class in a nut shell.....

  • Long before you think you have aged it enough.... stop. Look at it again in a couple of days.
  • Never sand with a courser grit than "OOO" steel wool (fine), or "green" nylon pads. Sanding should only be done where there would "normally" occur "wear" from touching, or polishing. "Rubbing marks" [usually on corners] are usually "polished" and are easier and better made by a piece of leather glued to a block of wood.
  • "Aging" via toner.... simple to remember rule of paints: Acrylic causes shine, gauche is mat and oil takes for ever to dry.
  • "Over coats" (glazings, tones, sheers etc) It's not always what you put on, it's more in what, how-much, and how you take it back off. Example: Splash on very thinned asphaltum, random areas, but mostly in the "protected areas" of the corners. Blot with crumpled newspaper, or laid strips. As it starts to dry, blot more with a soft cloth to blur the tone and take it down to just a thin transparent darkening. Load a facial foundation brush with a light coating of toned pumice stone.... lightly pounce the entire frame. Allow to dry over lunch... return with foundation brush and raw pumice stone.... and gently brush out entire frame removing most of all previous work. Tap out brush till clean and finish to very subtle toning.
  • "Worm holes and dry rot"..... if you personally have never seen these and have a few examples to copy.... don't do them. Ham handed attempts look really tacky and can't be repaired. To do right, they also are very very very time consuming and take a long time. They also don't occur in frames that are less than 2-300 years old and have been through purgatory, Hades, and the south Bronx.
  • "Flaming Wax" finishes. Unless you are willing to start all over..... don't even think about going down that side street. The gang wars will steal your hubcaps at 40mph and shoot out your windows before you get past the second house.
OK, that was just my :soapbox:

so now I need to go fire up my blow torch and age a little table. :kaffeetrinker_2:
 
I'll just chuck in my fourpenneth......

Old frames tend to gather a lot of dirt on the top edge . Some are almost black. The bottom edges are mostly quire clean and the sides somewhere in beween.

Fake wormholes. The best tool I've found is a fine engraving tool in a Dremel or whatever. Drill bit holes look phoney. As do ones punched with a nail.
 
OH BAER, Craft acrylics dry FLAT....and the earth tones actually look,"um, "dusty" too. Then there`s mixing white,or grey tempra powder with paste wax,great to simulate dust,and dirt that has accumulated in those cracks..Note the photo,a combo of acrylics,wax tempra powder....And there is a GREAT crackle medium out there, Decoart one step crackle.Authentic looking cracks,and a clearcoat(kill the gloss w/steelwool if you want)all in one... L.:p
 

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that's in our book, but you just said it.... "kill the gloss w/steelwool"....

so... (and I apologize for not getting this to you earlier...) dry brush gauche with the pumice stone and apply only what you want..... it will be totally flat and stays in place. Also you can tone the stone as you go for deeper looking shadows or lighter or greener verdigras rot on copper.... :D
 
Again, some tricks taught to me by an extremely talented woodworker with over 45 years building fine furniture.
"If you live on or near a farm, have some chickens peck at the frame. Or bury it in dirt or beat with some chain (lightly)."
Another option, I just thought of myself. If you are to close to the woods, cover the frame with honey or peanut butter and hopefully attract a "Bear" to claw and chew at it.
How about brushing on some rottenstone.
 
Oh, and I forgot about mats..... better than tea or coffee.

find a (as in one) black walnut whole nut. WEAR DOUBLE GLOVES. What you want is just the fung between the nut shell and the green skin. Carefully scrap it out onto a sheet pan or mat-board covered with aluminum foil. Let dry for a couple of months. Then stick in an oven at 150 degrees for about 2-3 hours. [I mean REALLY dry.] When you start to play with it and it crumbles.... then it's dry.

Buy a cheap mortar and pestle, that you will NEVER use for anything that could remotely be eaten. Grind it into a very very fine powder. [If you neighbor sneezes while in their bathroom, and the powder moves.... it's fine enough].
A pinch [gloves!] or a coke-spoon worth, in a gallon of hot water.... will give you a dye that rivals coffee.
A half pinch in a half pint will give you a wash that will resemble iron gall for washing between french lines.

Just remember on mats, after you have washed, waxed, sprayed or neutered .... bake in a vacuum heat at 125 for a dwell of 10 minutes or more.
 
CB, I once was at a presentation by a wood carver who learned in Holland in the early days of the 20th C.
When the Germans took over, and wanted "antiques"... the Dutch provided.

Carve on the first of the month, bury in the pig stye...... dig up two months later, dust off a bit and sell the stupid Nazi's some pig ****.
I Have yet to try burying anything.... but I do have a healthy garden with lots of steer and sheep stuff in it. But I think it was the urea of the pig that did the most "aging".
 
CB Art & Framing said:
Again, some tricks taught to me by an extremely talented woodworker with over 45 years building fine furniture.
"If you live on or near a farm, have some chickens peck at the frame. Or bury it in dirt or beat with some chain (lightly)."
Another option, I just thought of myself. If you are to close to the woods, cover the frame with honey or peanut butter and hopefully attract a "Bear" to claw and chew at it.
How about brushing on some rottenstone.
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Don`t know what breed of chickens you have,but I have had MANY chickens over the years...None had the beak sharpness or strength to leave a mark on wood...Now a Great Horned Owl,or Red tailed Hawk....Talons leave great marks..on everything.And if they hit a nerve you pass out,come to ,and throw up:vomit:....Just sayin..........L.
 
Baer, I just remebered what the woodworker was actually talking about. He was telling me about knockoff furniture from China, where supposedly these techniques were used to age furniture and carvings and sell them to unsuspecting American tourists.
 
Not exactly suitable for frames but I will gladly rent out my beloved little SOBs to anyone who can catch them!

100_7207.jpg


Almost all of the shingles on my house look like this.
 
CB Art & Framing said:
Baer, I just remebered what the woodworker was actually talking about. He was telling me about knockoff furniture from China, where supposedly these techniques were used to age furniture and carvings and sell them to unsuspecting American tourists.
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yup... kinda like that.

Pass out, wake up throw up..... Laura, would that make you rethink about what kind of pets you take in? :D just sayin'. :p

on second thought..... keep it up. :thumbsup:
 
I'm looking at my sample wall and I see about 100 examples of frames that have been finished by the manufacturer to look 100 years old.

Why reinvent the wheel?

Doug
 
I used to work in a professional antiques and furniture restoration business, so I've heard plenty about hitting things with chains from people who've never done it. Unlike those who've never done it, I have done it, know how to restore and repair valuable and old furniture and I was trained by a professional restorer.

Our job was to repair genuine antique furniture which had been damaged and we needed to make the repair match the rest of the piece. Everything we did was strictly legal and honest.

It ain't done the way most people would assume, so don't start swinging a length of chain around and giving it a good wack! Bits of old chain are mainly used on really solid hard woods like oak and a good sized handfull of suitably sized chain is first wrapped around with several layers of cloth such as towelling or blanket type cloth.

The well wrapped handfull of cloth is held the your hand and used on places on the piece of furniture which are likely to get a little bruised over the years. These places are progessively given some fairly gentle taps with the handfull of chain until slightly bruised. It does not take any significant force at all, the weight of the chain does the work, so DON'T START WACKING IT!

It can also be done with childrens glass marbles tied in an old sock and then wrapped around with layer on cloth as before, but it's not as good as a handfull of chain, as it lacks the weight.

You really need someone who know what they are doing to teach you how to do it as the tendancy is to over do the effect. We are not talking about denting the wood, just gently bruising exposed edges, so that it looks well cared for, but not new!

The technique is mainly used on furniture, after most of the staining and finishing has already been done and the purpose is to simulate the normal wear and tear which happens to well cared for furniture. To get it just right ain't easy! Other techniques are used to age, discolour and distress the finish.

Normally picture frames don't get as much wear and tear, because they normally hang on a wall and are out of harms way.
 
DIRT is the answer, flies, ice pick holes, light wash of browns, orange shellac, paint flecks from a brush etc. Try them all and see if the results are desirable.

jack Cee
 
Framar said:
Not exactly suitable for frames but I will gladly rent out my beloved little SOBs to anyone who can catch them!

100_7207.jpg


Almost all of the shingles on my house look like this.
Click to expand...

Ugh! Have you checked for termites. The woodpeckers might be looking for food. :party:
 
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