How do I Frame an Original Painting or Artwork?
When you are thinking about framing an original oil painting, pastel, watercolour, acrylic, sketch, or fine art print, there are a lot of things to consider.
Once you’ve selected an artwork that you love and fits beautifully into your home design and interior, you may want to frame it for greater visual impact. Choosing an appropriate frame to complement your new painting and your home can also protect your artwork from damage and moisture.
A good frame adds value to your artwork; it can look more expensive, impressive and professional than an unframed picture. Alternatively, you may wish to mix and match framed pieces with unframed pieces, particularly if you are building a gallery wall where a variety of forms can look more interesting, and eclectic put together in different ways.
However, when first looking at framing options it can appear confusing. What is the best way to frame an original painting on stretched canvas? What is a float frame and how would I use one? What about prints? And do I need a mount?
There are some online options for framing that allow you to enter the dimensions of your artwork and choose a suitable frame and mount, if appropriate. Or you may wish to take your artwork to your local professional framer. You obviously want the best options for your beautiful home and artwork (the type of frame, the proper size mount if needed, or mat, fixings, tape, hanging cord, wire).
As an artist, considering the kind of frame that fits in with an art collection is very important. I think my Little Bird paintings look best with warm gold-coloured frames. Creating a gallery wall of Little Bird original fine art paintings and prints was an exercise I really enjoyed and helped me visualise how the paintings looked together.
Gallery wall of “Little Bird” original paintings and fine art prints. I chose to mix both framed and unframed original paintings from my Little Bird collection with mounted and framed prints, for variety on this wall.
“Brown Wren” and “Fairy Blue Wren” original oil paintings, unframed.
“Zebra Finches” original fine art painting framed alongside the fine art print, mounted and framed.
If you would like some information to help you when considering framing, I have created a simple guide to look at this in more detail. This guide makes framing your artwork simple and easy by providing advice on which types of frames work with different types of artwork (e.g. paintings on stretched canvas vs pastels on paper), and helpful online resources.
You are welcome to download the Framing Guide by subscribing here.
If you have any questions or comments on the guide, please feel free to email me at: patriciajvalentiart@gmail.com.
Warmly,
Patricia
‘Love, Joy, Create’ Blog – My love of nature inspires my art practice. Learning from nature, seeing animals and birds fills me with joy. Please follow along with me and create your own inspiration for your art by learning about nature and the world around us. art@patriciajvalentiart.com
Patricia Valenti is a representational contemporary fine artist and life-long painter, based in Kent in the UK, beginning her artistic studies as a young girl. Her passion for nature and the beauty of animals and wildlife can be seen in her work, transforming familiar animals and wildlife into stunning, realistic interpretations with emotional impact. Her walks around the surrounding countryside near her home inspire her work.