Mat Tips for 2011 - Rag Mats

Today's post is courtesy of Crescent Cardboard - a manufacturer of some of the finest matboard in the North American Market and maker of Crescent "Rag" Board.   Rag is often mis-understood by those starting to get into the framing market so I felt this information was timely.

COTTON RAG MAT

For centuries, cotton rag paper, prized for strength, purity and stability, has been the choice of artists, composers, writers and printers. Today it is specified for currency, stock certificates and government documents.

Cotton rag matboard was designed specifically for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in the late 1920s. Today, virtually all museums and libraries rely on cotton rag matboard, often referred to as museum board.


Cotton is nature's purest form of cellulose. It is inherently free of lignin, acid and other non-cellulose contaminants found in wood pulp. Cotton fiber pulp is reliable, sturdy and far superior to bleached, chemically processed wood pulp used to produce other conservation boards.

For more information on Crescent Matboards and other boards available see the following websites:
Crescent Rag Board
MatShop Art Supplies

Matting Tips - Part 5 - Triple Mat

5. TRIPLE MAT

I guess this is an obvious – but one of the nicest ways to do this is to vary the “lin¬er” sizes of your inner mats.  Illustrated here we have started with a light blue mat as the very inside mat and allowed ¼” of it to show as a “liner”.  Then we added a dark blue liner on top of that with only about 1/8” showing.  Lastly the outer mat was matched to the light blue color of the very inner mat creating a great focus for the image – drawing your eye directly in to those colors in the piece.

Artwork courtesy of Patricia Arndt and inspired from Karin Jurick's "Different Strokes" website.
Mat created using the MatoMatic tool - courtesy of www.matshop.com.
You can do it too and best of all its FREE!

Simple Matting Tips - Part 2 - Double Mats

2. DOUBLE MAT

Another common matting technique – the basics are the same as for a single mat above except that your second mat fits underneath the outer mat and acts like a small “liner” that catches your eye and draws it into the image. That is why the second mat in a double mat is usually a contrasting color that is also one of the colors in the image. It will attract the eye – and because it matches a color in the image – draw your eye to that part of the image.

Artwork courtesy of Patricia Arndt and inspired from Karin Jurick's "Different Strokes" website.
Mat created using the MatoMatic tool - courtesy of www.matshop.com.
You can do it too and best of all its FREE!

SECRETS OF MATTING FOR ARTISTS

This article is re-printed with permission from the MatShop and author Jim Fishwick. Visit the MatShop for the full article and additional information.

Some of the Fundamental secrets when selecting Matting for your artwork.

Single mats: If a single mat is used, it is often safest and most desirable to use a neutral color, such as off white, cream, light grays etc. These go very well with most images and fit into most home settings. If you wish a stronger color, try to match the mat color with a dominant color in the image. i.e. Lots of dark green trees in the picture, use a dark green mat. For black and white photographs, off-white mats with a black core are very effective.

Using a double mat: Double mats add considerably to the richness of the presentation. The safest method is to use a neutral outer mat, and a color for the inner mat that matches a dominant color in the image. The amount of the inner mat that can be seen is called the “reveal”, and varies with the size of the mat. A reveal of 3/16" is close to being an industry standard, but use your own judgment. When using a white mat over another white mat, a reveal of 1/2" or even much more can work very well. Double mats are usually twice the price of a single.

Adding decorative cuts: Closed and open "V-grooves", decorative corners and graphics can be attractive, but often unnecessary. A closed v-groove is very common, and can be quite cost effective especially with larger artwork. The extra cost can be recovered by a higher retail price. Closed v-grooves can be very effective on single mats of conservation quality.

Types of mat cuts explained

These are some of the cuts available, and the terminology used to describe them.

1. Open v-groove, 3/16" reveal
2. V-groove gap
3. Closed v-groove
4. Message box, 3/16" reveal
5. Double opening, 3/16" reveal
6. Single opening
7. "Fancy" corner
8. Floating the image
9. Graphic
10. #246 Walnut frame
11. Double mat, light blue outer, dark blue inner.