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Saturday, September 17, 2011

Artist's Frames.. Always the best will do.


Above is a new commission with a custom frame.

 Your art and the client’s painting deserve the best possible picture frame. So often painters create a great painting only to use a low coast or poor design picture frame, making the painting discernibly of less value. Large or small paintings that you create have added value when framed right. Cost is not always the factor, but often relates to a potential frame. An expensive wrong design choice is about as bad as selecting a cheap frame. Here are a few directions I use when selecting a frame.

First, is to take your time and do your homework in searching out the best possible frame.

Second, is to make sure the width of the frame, texture, color and weight of the frame go well with your painting.

Third, is to find a selection of frames that will most often go with your art. This will save you time in the future.

Lastly, you might find a used frame style or antique frame that would make a great presentation for a painting.

There are many frame companies or suppliers that offer frames at different price points. Always look for quality first. If the supplier has a focus on “Value” and “Low Cost’, then I stay away from them. I have listed a few suppliers at the end of this blog.

Picture Frame Widths

Get the width that fits. A two-inch wide frame will work great on a smaller painting, but will generally add no design value to a larger painting. 

Here is a good way to figure width:
Shorter picture size times .18.  So if I take the shorter width of the painting, say a 16 by 20, my frame width would be about 2.88. (16x.18 =2.88) If a larger painting had a shorter width of 24 inches, the picture might look best in a moulding just over 4 inches (4.32) wide.

Picture small size, times .18 = width

Keep in mind that a contemporary painting may need a much smaller width and wrap canvas’ (painted on the edges) require no frame.

Picture Frame Cost

A way to figure a quality price point frame is to take the painting short size times 10.5. So an 8x10 painting might have a frame cost of $84.00. A 16x20 painting might have a quality frame that cost $168.00. This is just a rough estimate and seems to work with my paintings, but often the price is higher or a little lower. My frame price is about 4% to 12% of my paintings retail cost depending on client/gallery needs.

Always be on the look out for good quality frames. Once you find something that fits your art try to stay with a limited number frame styles.

A few suppliers:

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