Things To Consider

There are several elements that need to be considered when you are framing your artwork for presentation.

A great framing begins with consideration into the following elements:

  • The surroundings of the art work.
  • Your taste and style.
  • The art work itself, what you are framing.

Below are four things to consider when choosing a frame for your art work.

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Picture Frame Scales

Like with most things in life getting things in proportion and to the right scale is important, it is no different when it comes to framing art work.

For example if you were to see a giant riding a tiny bike that would look funny to many as it just isn’t in scale, the same will go for art work if they aren’t in correctly proportioned frames.

The types of scaling for frames can be determined by the art work itself.  When you have a piece of work that is strong, very intense full of colour and bold images then a very striking frame with thicker edges will be needed so that the frame doesn’t get lost in the painting.  If you have a very delicate piece of artwork, with soft shapes and colours then a more plain and thinner frame will be needed so that the frame doesn’t take the focus away from the art work.

Frame Textures And Patterns

As most people know all woods have different grains and textures, this obviously will change the way the finished frame looks so choosing the right material is crucial.

The best way to get the right texture and pattern for the frame is to use the artwork.   Sometimes patterns and textures in the artwork can be tastefully mimicked in the materials used for the frame itself, dependant on the image being strong or soft.  Strong images can handle a large strongly detailed frame whilst more softer art works will need a very small subtle frame.

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Frame Colour

A picture frame should add to the piece of art work that it is housing, one of the biggest mistakes made when people are framing artwork is that they use frames that actually take away the focus of the art work inside them making the frame more stand out that the piece.

One of the most important factors and elements when choosing a frame and probably the one that people forget or is misunderstood is the actual colour of the frame. The colour that surrounds your artwork is the one factor that has the biggest impact on the artwork itself.

If you are going to opt for a colour frame rather than wooden the best way to go to enhance the focal point of the piece is mat.   For example if you have a dark piece of art using a light mat will intensifies the art work and vice versa with lighter images using darker mats.  You need to use colour that coordinate with your piece.

Styles Of Frames

The style of the frames that you use on your artwork are important.  You need to find a balance.

If you are framing a piece to fit into your collection that you already have of modern art but this new piece is antique you need to look at ways to design the frame based on the artwork adding to it but also fitting into what you already have.  Mixing styles on display is perfectly fine as long as you follow the step “do not let the frame take away from the art work”.

Use the piece itself to dictate the style.

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