Fur In The Paint

Since oil pastel paintings don’t really ever dry, they need some accomodations when it comes to framing. Namely, a deeper air space between the glass and the painting to prevent the transfer of the pastel. I do this primarily in 3 different ways.

1. Using matting
2. Using a wooden liner
3. Floating with a shadowbox

I will cover each way in its own post. Today we’ll start with creating depth using matting.

Creating Depth With Matting

Multiple Mats
Since I tend to work oil pastels by laying in thick coloring, I may use a minimum of a three mats, but most often I go with four. The multiple mats stacked up create the depth needed. This is pretty straight forward, so I won’t elaborate on it. However if anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask me.

Spacing Mats Apart
I achieve the depth I need by putting an (acid free) AF spacer in between the matting. This is not one of my paintings, nor is it an oil pastel. I am using the same technique for it, that I would for an oil pastel painting, because it adds a certain drama and interest when framing other items as well.

Note: This watercolor of a poppy was painted by a friend of mine, Arjes Youngblade. She has graciously allowed me to use her painting in this blog demonstration. Thank you Arjes.

Here is the artwork with bottom mat only, which was cut at 4 3/8 inches.

Here the AF foamcore spacer has been laid in place. It was cut at 3 inches. It needs to be well undercut from the topmost mat, so as not to be visible from any angle. In this instance, the spacer was cut 3/4″ less than the top mat.

Here the top most mat has been added. It was cut at 3 3/4 inches.

And now the frame and the glazing (glass) have been added. Because this project is an original watercolor, I am using Conservation Clear. (If you remember from my post on glazings, only clear glass should be used with anything that has depth to it.)

This is the back of the framing. A dust cover (brown kraft paper) is applied to help seal it from bugs and dust. The wire is set at 1/3 the distance down the frame. Bumpons are applied (the clear little knobbies on the bottom corners. They help to keep it hanging straight on the wall, as well as protect the wall from frame rub marks.) And lastly, a Conservation Clear label is applied to the back to explain the care of the glass.

Here is a cross section view of the layers, In this instance I used a black foamcore spacer to help differentiate it from the surrounding boards.

The layers from the top down are:
glazing (conservation clear)
top mat (C1607 Brite White)
AF foam core spacer
bottom mat (1607 Brite White)
barrier board (2 ply 100% cotton rag board)
AF foamcore backing board

Tags: framing, oil pastels

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