French lines and panelsA French mat is an ordinary mat which is decorated with opague and transparent pastels. The colors are chosen carefully. One color accents the mat color while another color enhances the artwork. 
Many times a third color is used as a coordinator. These colors are displayed within opaque lines and transparent lines. A French mat is hand done with careful precision. The colors must hamonize with the mat color as well as the colors of the artwork. Yet, the colors in the mat must not distract from the artwork. To reduce this distraction, the widest band of color should be a soft pastel color. According to the size of artwork, this band can vary in width from 3/8" to 1" Painted BevelWhen we cut mats for an art project the inside edge is cut on a 45 degree angle this expose 1/16 of an inch of the inside color of the mat board, usually white. Sometimes however, it is desirable have a different accent color, maybe black or gold. This can be accomplished by painting the bevel. This process is hand painted and is priced by size. |
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Single gold french line 3/4" from a gold mat fillet |
Close-up of the above picture showing - 4 french lines, and 1 pastel panel. |
