Finishing to Finesse
So many of us are sick of lockdown. Are we easing off from it or do we find ourselves further in the abyss of the unknowing?
This maddening time can be made somewhat more comfortable by taking on little home improvements and creative projects. Taking on short courses in printmaking for example has seen a mass of new stuff in our homes. So perhaps it’s worth looking into those finishing skills to finesse the work you have devoted your Covid months to?
Curator at ‘ASpace’ in Southampton, Ayden Hector, offered some fantastic tips in hanging your own collections in an article for its local rag, The Echo. Here are 4 tips he advises when approaching the job.
1. Material and Tool Check
Like any task its always useful to see that you have the correct tools to perform the job. When considering hanging your work, whether it’s in your home or business, it’s important to ensure you have a decent arsenal of variant tools. To hang a selection of framed works ensure you have a cordless drill (with hammer action for masonry), a set of rawl plugs that match the set of screws, a spirit level, a HB pencil with eraser, masking tape and a bradle (a sharp pointy thing!). Also have some sheets paper and low tack masking tape to hand.
2. Placeholder with templated sheets of paper
Template your framed works from sheets of paper so you have a placeholder of the work. This cunning idea allows you to confront the space you are working with to hang the work. To get an idea of where things should go, attach your low tack tap to each cut out sheet and stick this to the wall. Take some time to see how the space responds to your formation and don’t be afraid to go bold.
Having a basic rule like a working from the centre point of the wall with a piece of work and work out from there can be nice. Alternatively, you can set a line across the wall as your highest point and work downwards from there. The idea is to breathe life into the work so enjoy it, take your time and be bold in your approach.
3. Digital scale drawings
Alternatively, if you are savvy with digital creative software, try making a scaled drawing of the space you are working with. For example, if you have a 2m x 5 m wall, draw out this simply on Photoshop or illustrator (recommended) converting your measures to 20cm x 50cm. Have each framed piece photographed and resized to this scale.
This way you have complete over sight on your work and space at the comfort of your desk. Take the afternoon to see what looks right by click and dragging these works to suit a formation you are happy with. If you are ultra-flashy, you could even use a projector on the wall to see them in real space.
Once you are happy with the formation, save the file and refer to this to gather your X/Y (horizontal and vertical) measures of the wall. This makes for great ease of when you’re facing the wall and hanging your works.
To read more on topics like this, check out the Home & Garden category
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