Question Pen lines as a border on Mat

[Ken Tuvman]

Good morning,

I'm re-framing an old map and cutting a new mat. The existing mat was cut by hand and looks to have two hand drawn borders that follow the mat opening. I quoted as a single mat.

With my Valiant CMC I can use the pen tool to recreate this look. The other option, which might also be goo its an ivory mat with black core - I can cut V grooves and they'll come up black but look a lot more pronounced than using the pen tool. If you look closely at the mat only picture below, you can see the framer used a pencil to draw two faint lines around perimeter - just wondering if that's what framers did back in that era.

Just wondering if agree or have other suggestions.

Thank You as always,

Ken

 

[wpfay]

You will also note that the panel between the two darker pen lines has a light watercolor wash.

Part of the charm of this kind of treatment is the varying transparencies in the 3 elements (two light lines, two darker lines, and the panel itself).

A mat like that from my shop would probably run 3-4X the price of a single 4-ply rag mat.

A little caveat: Not all mat surfaces will accept pen lines or wash panels. Do some test strips first if you choose to develop this skill set.

 

[Ken Tuvman]

I’ve been enlightened / thank you

 

[Prospero]

It seems to be a dying skill. I used to do a lot of it, but tastes change and I rarely get asked for
line and wash mats anymore. They do look good if you need to frame antiquarian prints and
watercolors from yesteryear.
What you need is a good ruling pen (the ones like a lobster claw), a good straightedge and a steady
hand. As well as lots of practice. I must admit to cheating a bit as I used the good old Mat Magic
powders for the panel. If you use them right you can't tell the difference between powder and wet wash.
The powders are a lot less stressful to apply. Unfortunately, they stopped being made some time in the
'90s. But you can grind pastel sticks very finely to get the same thing. It's all about understatement: The panels
look best when they are soft and almost not there at all.

 

[Finest Fabric]

What you have there is a traditional French Mat. There are how-to books and tutorials out there. The learning curve
is quite long to achieve good results.

Down and dirty method is lines ruled with a pigment pen (Micron, Copic, &c.) , lightfast and available in many line
widths and colors.

If a colored panel is desired, powdered pastels as mentioned above can be applied gently with a brush. Consider masking the panel area with
811 tape or similar.

 

[Prospero]

What you have there is a traditional French Mat. There are how-to books and tutorials out there. The learning curve
is quite long to achieve good results.

Down and dirty method is lines ruled with a pigment pen (Micron, Copic, &c.) , lightfast and available in many line
widths and colors.

If a colored panel is desired, powdered pastels as mentioned above can be applied gently with a brush. Consider masking the panel area with
811 tape or similar.

My method for applying powders...

I have a chevron cut from 8-ply matboard where one side is looong and the other shorter.
I rule the lines first and when dry I lay the bevel of the L along one outer corner and scrub
the powder into the panel with a foam brush, working it well in along the edge. Rotate until
you've done all four corners and then repeat the procedure on the inside. Carefully remove any
excess powder and the use a Draft Cleaning Pad ( A muslin bag full of granulated rubber) to go
all over the panel. Basically try to remove all the pigment you have applied. You won't, but it leaves
a very subtle trace of color which is what you are trying to achieve.
If gold lines are needed I add these last as the buffing process can blur them.

It's desirable to make the lines not-too-perfect. You always tend to get a flowback or a slight thickening
here and there when you rule by hand. In fact I've heard of old-school liners actually deliberately doing
flaws to show it's hand-drawn. It adds an unconscious feeling of humanity, which can be missing from
machine done ones. A "Lyrical Imperfection".

btw. In my photo above the visible holes at the corners are there because I use the chevrons as marking templates.

 

[Ken Tuvman]

Again - thanks - it seems technology has replaced a lot of the old world craftsmanship / charm - wish I were younger and more patient but for now will be more than likely cutting a double mat with my Valiant iX. Thanks again!

 

[Rick Granick]

My method for applying powders...

I have a chevron cut from 8-ply matboard where one side is looong and the other shorter.
I rule the lines first and when dry I lay the bevel of the L along one outer corner and scrub
the powder into the panel with a foam brush, working it well in along the edge. Rotate until
you've done all four corners and then repeat the procedure on the inside. Carefully remove any
excess powder and the use a Draft Cleaning Pad ( A muslin bag full of granulated rubber) to go
all over the panel. Basically try to remove all the pigment you have applied. You won't, but it leaves
a very subtle trace of color which is what you are trying to achieve.
If gold lines are needed I add these last as the buffing process can blur them.

It's desirable to make the lines not-too-perfect. You always tend to get a flowback or a slight thickening
here and there when you rule by hand. In fact I've heard of old-school liners actually deliberately doing
flaws to show it's hand-drawn. It adds an unconscious feeling of humanity, which can be missing from
machine done ones. A "Lyrical Imperfection".

btw. In my photo above the visible holes at the corners are there because I use the chevrons as marking templates.

Thanks for that powder tutorial. I've taken the liberty of sharpening up your photo a bit to make the details more visible.
Rick

 

[wpfay]

Ken, instead of a double mat, you could get a feel for the original by doing a color mat inlay with narrow V grooves on either side.

 

[Rick Granick]

Ken, instead of a double mat, you could get a feel for the original by doing a color mat inlay with narrow V grooves on either side.

If you do, be sure the matboard you use for the inlay is the exact same thickness as the main mat.
Rick

 

[Prospero]

If you do, be sure the matboard you use for the inlay is the exact same thickness as the main mat.
Rick

Another way is to do a sunken panel which is essentially a wide V-groove where the undermat is revealed.
The tricky part is locating the inner part so the panel is of equal width. The best way is the use the strips you
shave off. That's on a manual cutter btw. Never done it on a CMC but I would imagine it's easier. Or is it?

 

[wpfay]

Another way is to do a sunken panel which is essentially a wide V-groove where the undermat is revealed.
The tricky part is locating the inner part so the panel is of equal width. The best way is the use the strips you
shave off. That's on a manual cutter btw. Never done it on a CMC but I would imagine it's easier. Or is it?

It is easier. The "strips, in this case are a complete fallout that can be used to register the two pieces of the top mat. Inside first if the undermat is also going to be revealed as a second mat on the inside edge. It's also easy enough to mask off the face of the mat before cutting so the exposed bevels can be painted.

 

[Rick Granick]

On a CMC, cut two mats the same dimensions, with open v-grooves. Switch the v-groove fallouts and tape in place.
Result is two inlaid mats with opposite colors.
Rick

 

[Jim Miller]

These mats are among the custom designs created in Corel Draw and produced using my Valiani CMC's cutting and drawing tools, along with marbled paper and powdered-pigment panels.

My experience as a calligrapher provided some expertise with pens, inks, watercolors, and color pigments, which I used for many years to decorate mats manually.

When I began creating "faux French" mats using the CMC's capabilities in conjunction with manual skills, French matting purists were less than complimentary, saying "that's not real French matting". True enough, but customers like them.

 

[RoboFramer]

I suppose I was a “semi purist”!

I used my CMC to (very very lightly) deboss the whole design and then mark the corners with a 4H pencil dot. The lines would be SO faintly marked I had to use a powerful flashlight (UK “torch”) at a shallow angle to even see the faint shadow they would make. More complex than square designs were also made far easier (read “simple”) to plot, with the debossing head.

French mats (uk “washlines) was something I loved doing. What someone else said above is true though - I was rarely asked for them, but just like museum glass and non invasive mounting methods, which I was also rarely asked for - I sold a heck of a lot of them!

 

[Jim Miller]

...I was rarely asked for them, but just like museum glass and non invasive mounting methods, which I was also rarely asked for - I sold a heck of a lot of them!

In my opinion, the key to selling more decorated mats, Museum Glass, and other specialty features is to show examples of these things on your gallery walls and talk to customers about them. After a short time in the business, I realized that most consumers have no idea what we can do in terms of special features.

 

[Prospero]

Ever do something just for the heck and never do it again?
(I only did one corner )

 

[Louise B]

I use ruling pens and Winsor Newton or other fine quality watercolour to rule lines and paint panels. A beautiful quality flat watercolour brush is great for painting the panels. Also, I always use Rising Museum rag board which takes the watercolour beautifully. It is worth learning to use ruling pens since the result is lovely and one day you may need repllicate a paper wrapped mount decorated with lines and panels.

 

[Jim Miller]

For pen lines & watercolor panels, I agree that 100% cotton mats (with proper sizing) yield the best results. To draw the lines manually, I prefer to use acrylic gouache (airbrush colors) in my ruling pen. Lines drawn using watercolors and most inks will run if re-wetted while applying the watercolor wash in the panel. However, lines drawn using acrylic will not run, because the plastic is not water soluble when dry.

 

[RoboFramer]

Lines drawn using watercolors and most inks will run if re-wetted while applying the watercolor wash in the panel.

I always did the panels first, between very fine pencil lines. Then slightly strengthen the colour to edge the panel when dry.

 

[Jim Miller]

I always did the panels first, between very fine pencil lines. Then slightly strengthen the colour to edge the panel when dry.

Yes, I can see how that would work. It might also be a good idea to deboss the lines first, before applying the watercolor wash, and then ink the lines last.

 

[Louise B]

Some of the readers of this forum may be interested in the book, Art on Paper Mounting and Housing, Archetype Publications, which includes my article, Reproducing decorative mounts. The materials and methods that I use are outlined in the article. The book also contains a great range of articles covering mounting and storage topics for work on paper: https://archetype.co.uk/our-titles/art-on-paper/?id=264 Our Titles > Art On Paper

 

[petermac]

I always did the panels first, between very fine pencil lines. Then slightly strengthen the colour to edge the panel when dry.

I lay the lines first and let them dry thoroughly - then I paint the wash. I have had very few issues with bleed using watercolors only.

 

[RoboFramer]

Nor me, with mat decoration, calligraphy or watercolour paintings, many of which start with a flat wash which is painted over in darker colours, or even the same colour. I don't think it matters whether you do the panel first or the lines that edge it, I just like going from light to dark. The panel starts with a wash of clean water (for me at least), so it also makes sense, to me, to not do that, and then the colour wash, over anything at all, just like a painting.

 

[kosmoly]

Ever do something just for the heck and never do it again?
(I only did one corner )

View attachment 46730

Absolutely, amazing! The patience that you have is astonishing. Thank you for all the advice. I'm interested in French matting but not sure if my arthritis hand can handle this

 

[kosmoly]

Thanks for that powder tutorial. I've taken the liberty of sharpening up your photo a bit to make the details more visible.
Rick
View attachment 46684

Thanks Rick for the sharpened image.