Frame for my blackbird painting.

Hi everyone. I have not posted for a long, long, long time! I hope you enjoy this new one.
I make the frames for my paintings for 2 reasons:  saves money and I get just what I want.

The wood I use is 1x3's from the lumber yard. I don't buy the most expensive since I fill holes with wood filler and paint it and cover it anyway. Here is one I made recently.  The hardest thing has been to find the right color of brown tissue paper.  I haven't yet!

I add a half-round trim to the frame. The painting sits on this trim and also gives it a finished look.  

I mix a 1:1 ratio of water and glue and put it in an empty jar

 Materials:  White primer, my cut-outs of birds from cardboard, ordinary white glue mixed with water, an inexpensive brush and Liquitex satin varnish (any varnish will do).

One note on tissue paper:  Make sure it is not the "bleeding" kind, unless it's what you want.  I used it once thinking it would look "cool", but it was a disaster.  The glue/water mixture separated the colors into green and red. Don't forget brown is made from blue, red and yellow!

Procedure: After my frame is primed, I place and glue my birds where I want them.  They have been painted a medium gray, a lighter value than the tissue paper.  After making 12 frames I have found this works well for me.

I cut the tissue paper in pieces slightly larger than the width of the frame plus extra to cover the sides.

I crinkle the tissue. I then apply glue to the frame with a brush and place the tissue paper over it.

Using the same brush, I go over it with more glue, making sure I flatten all the wrinkles. ( Be gentle at first until you figure out how hard to brush, or you will tear the tissue.)

Where I have to piece the tissue paper, I overlap it just slightly. Tissue paper comes in 20 inch lengths and this frame was 30x30.

Since the color is not deep enough, I apply a second layer of tissue, the same way as the first.  I get more wrinkles, of course, but they look fine.

 Once the glue is dry, I go over the whole frame with Liquitex varnish to give the frame a light sheen.

There are many ways of doing this:  painting the frame brown to begin with is another way. You need to experiment.  Good luck. My website:  lolastantonart.com