Exciting news! I just officially launched my first class on SKILLSHARE ❤It's called Introduction to Watercolor: Painting Magnolia Flowers Using Simple Techniques and you can take it for free and become my student with this FREE TRIAL skl.sh/3lJlOAO 😍
Loved seeing so much of your work. Not sure if your tape was acid free but it is something to consider because regular masking tape can be very acidic leaves a terrible residue. I recommend a gummed linen tape and only attached at the top. Hope you don’t mind the opinion, I am a professional custom picture framer going on 35 years in business. Your work is lovely!
Ooh that is a valuable feedback, yeah it crossed my mind that I should get a better tape but I am really not framing these, it's just a very temporary solution. I am trying to take my originals straight to framers nowdays and even though I still don't let them fully framed, at least the mount is done by a framer with good materials (better than mines are anyway). Many thanks for your comment!
Easy way to flatten the image is to spray the back of the painting with water, use a big flat brush to spread the water over the back, put a cloth on it and then some books. It flattens faster. After one night it's ready :)
An easier and faster way of doing this is with is with a clothes iron and literally iron it flat almost just like you would for your clothing. You can just google instructions on how to do this.
Thanks for the video, Jane. Even though I prefer tutorials from you, this could be helpful for me in the future! I am always so excited to watch your new video! Already can't wait for another one! ❤️
You are so welcome, Eva. There are more tutorials on the way, this was requested from the studio cleanup vlogs, and I thought people might find it useful :)
You have no idea how helpful this is. I am just at the point where I can sell some of my paintings and have been trying to figure out how to make them presentable without framing them because first of all I cannot afford to frame them all. I do have a lot of paper, and may even use some archival paper that is not 100% cotton to make my mounting. I wonder what you think about that? (Using archival watercolor paper that is not 100% cotton for the mount only, not the painting)
I am happy it was helpful :) You don't have to use cotton paper, as long as the paper is acid-free it is okay to use for mounting and storing. Cotton paper is way too expensive for that, I am glad to be afford it for painting :)
I watched your video because I was looking for this exact type of solution. I got a bonus because you also showed how to make a mat frame. I was just about to order some protective bags for my watercolor paintings but now I won't. I will put my paintings between paper as you suggest in your video. I would like to know, where did you buy your flat file cabinet? I've been looking at them on various art supply websites and Amazon. I want to store my watercolor materials. I am an oil painter and have a taboret for storing my oil paints and all of my paintings are now in frames. Watercolor paintings are very different of course and have to be stored flat as we know. Thank you for the tutorial and stay safe!
Hello Colleen, thank you for watching - well, these cabinets gets as expensive as you say even in my country, sadly. When I was buying mine, I researched the internet for the cheapest one possible in my area and found out that some materials such as wood or metal cabinets gets twice or even 3 times more expensive. I ended up buying one made out of particleboard (hope thats the correct word, it is a fake wood made out of wooden scraps) and with 10 drawers size of approx A1 it still cost me about 500 Eur. Good thing is, I don't see it falling apart anytime soon, this looks like it lasts 30 years at least.
You're art is great. I ordered a watercolor painting. I plan to have it professionally framed. What are your thoughts on Japanese hinges vs framing tape?
Thanks for watching, and I have no experience with mentioned materials sadly, since I am only storing every painting for a short time and always recommending a professional framer for my end customers. My framing methods are, as mentioned, purely provisional.
I like your artwork. I like your procedures for finishing off the watercolor paintings. I would say you are matting the artwork not mounting it. To me mounting is adhering the painting to a backing board. I also never use tape to go all the way around. You could book mat with the back board and tape it from the top only. Letting it hang.
Thanks Daniel for your correction, you might be completely right about me using wrong wording and even a procedure - this is what I found worked best for my own process for now, I might research and do a more proper routine soon.
Thank you for this great information on storing watercolour paintings. When you cut the mat you demoed is that top quality watercolour paper or what? I think that would make it very expensive to do? Your work is beautiful and I am so impressed I liked and subscribed. I will look through your channel. Greetings from Australia.
Thank you Jen for watching and for the subscribe, glad you enjoyed some of my content! As for your question, I wouldn't waste cotton paper for the mount, it is a regular, you could say student-grade watercolor paper, just make sure it is acid-free :) I am buying a Fabriano student-grade paper in sheets for this purpose, one sheet 50 x 70 cm costs less than 1 Euro here, and when I cut out the mount, I use the rest of the paper (much larger part) for paintings and studies, so I would say it is not expensive.
Thank you for your informative videos! One thing we did 40 years ago in art school was cutting mat board in at an angle, which makes a nice beveled edge against the artwork. Is there a reason you didn't do that with your watercolor paper that you were using to frame it? Is it too delicate for that?
Hello Nina, the watercolor paper is only 300 gsm, which makes it thicker than most "regular" papers, yet still not nearly thick enough to have significant height. What you are describing is a regular practice of professional framers, that use real mat boards, not a cheap temporary substitute that I presented in this video. I was talking about my reasons though, too :)
Thank you very much for the video! 💜 love your paintings & accent also ;) 🌻 Q: how much is this beautiful chest of drawers? And where do people get it? Also is it archive friendly? As lots of furniture has different materials nowadays
thanks a lot Jane!!! about storing them in cellophane sleeves/bags for presentation: what is the maximum time you advise to keep them in the sleeves to avoid moisture? many thanks, phil
Hey Phil, not sure how I'd go about measuring ideal time but I'd say from experience that this solution is okay when storing for months, not years. Hope this somewhat vague reply helps.
Thank you for this video but I have a question about the tape you used. Does it matter if it is acid free? I don't want to have problems in the future with yellowing on the front side
I dont think its acid free, as I said this is just a temporary fix for the paintings and permanent solition would require a professional frame that I’m sure uses acid free materials :)
I used 300 gsm Fabriano watercolor paper, because that's what I have in my studio and use frequently. There is no reason to purchase this particular brand for framing, as long as the paper is 300 gsm and acid-free (this is important), you can use any brand you have. You won't be painting on it, if I had even cheaper paper with these parameters, I'd use that one.
Why does the painting need to “breathe”? If anything, it should be protected from the elements in the air being exposed to such, like humidity that could ruin your work. Have you thought/known about sealing your paintings with Dorland’s wax medium? This completely seals out any moisture and makes for a completely waterproof surface if done properly and eliminates the need to put it behind glass which makes for a very distracting surface to be able to enjoy the artwork to the best of its potential. This product is much stronger than any typical fixative medium out there, but if you’re worried about any lightfast issues, you can simply either use better paints and/or spray thoroughly (with several light coats allowing to dry in between each layer of course) with a good UV fixative prior to sealing with the wax. But that saying that the painting needs to “breathe” for a watercolor is a strange concept for me since I was taught from day one many years ago that that’s not what you should want for a watercolor to properly preserve it….other mediums, yes, like an oil so it can properly cure over the years (and yes oils can take that long to do so depending on how much and how think the paints are) but not for a water color and in fact framing it behind glass is the worst thing for a watercolor since it still exposes it to the environment around it as well as can trap in any moisture that can get in behind the glass as it’s not an air tight environment to store it in. Watercolors once finished, should not be exposed to such as it could ruin them, which is why you should want to completely seal off the artwork with something like the product I mentioned above, making it completely sealed to those elements that could ruin the artwork even if you decide to put it behind that annoyingly super reflective surface of glass. Having said that I completely agree with what you said about framing your work. I have said this for years that a frame could make or break a piece of work potentially making people not want to buy it because while they may love the work, they may hate the frame and can’t picture it in their own home because of that reason. I refuse to frame my work as there’s not point in putting the effort to do so if they’re either not going to buy it in it’s end result with the frame I picked out, or, just change out the frame anyways to something else. If they want frame to put it in, they can find one that they love AND goes with their decor if they want one that badly, but I don’t do frames. One of my first painting oil classes I took before I went to art school was taught by a much older woman who brought in some of her work to show her students. She had one small piece of work, it must have been about 3”x3” or so and she put it together in this HUGE gaudy gold color frame that must have been at least 6” thick on all the sides. It was HEAVY for its size, felt like picking up a brick, made of real carved wood and I can still feel it I’m my hands to this day and I remember that frame, but for the life of me, cannot remember what that work of art inside that frame was actually of at all. She LOVED it as it was frame and artwork all together and that’s perfectly fine, IF her target audience of her work being for herself! That taught me a very good lesson that day of why you shouldn’t frame your artwork unless it’s for you in your own home because that frame you love, is not going to be loved by everyone else especially if you’re in the market to sell your work to others who have completely different tastes than you do! I personally HATE the color gold! I honestly think it’s a tacky color. And no matter how much I would have loved that painting she made….that I can’t even remember what it was of now, you couldn’t have gotten me to buy it in THAT frame! 😂 That’s why it’s important to remember that frames can totally make or break your artwork and while framing is a great thing to know how to do in the art industry, your tastes are not for everyone else and in a market where you’re catering to someone else’s tastes to pay your bills, you should keep that in mind when displaying your work. People need to see it on THEIR walls in THEIR home if you want to make money off of it and if they can’t do that because all they’re doing is internally wanting to vomit over the frame and can’t see past that no matter how beautiful the work of art really is despite the frame being a work of art all in itself, they’re just not going to want to buy it.
