Framing And Mat Standards For Watercolors

Generally the top mat will be darker on a.

Framing and mat standards for watercolors.

Matting your watercolors protects and enhances the look of your paintings by cleanly defining the image edges and isolating your image in a uniform neutral or complementary background. Matting and framing your work. Your eye can usually tell if your painting is out of proportion to the frame. So a mat for a 5 x.

The mat opening will be slightly smaller than the suggested picture size. Currently there are several types of matting material acid free buffered or what is called regular matboard should last about 7 years before the buffering gradually turns acid. Any wider may look overpowering. Watercolors are a more delicate medium so lighter neutrals tend to work better.

Screwdrivers you will probably need both a flat and a phillips head type. In general using the dominant colors of the art in the mat draws the eye to the art rather than to the framing. Museum quality made with 100 rag should last 25 to 50 years. Be sure to vary the width of the mat and frame as similar widths can appear visually stagnant.

Often the artist has some focal point that contrasts with the background colors. We recommend a mat at least twice as wide as the width of the frame. If you mat with those background colors the artist s intended focal point will still draw the eye to it. Mats are made from mat board which should be made from all cotton acid free fiber.

When in doubt keep it simple. This allows the mat to overlap the image slightly holding it behind the frame. The mat is the quiet that allows the artwork to sing a standard mat width is 2 1 2 to 3 although larger artwork will require something more substantial. Note that in many watercolor competitions they require a white mat so it is better to double mat in white.

Generally the mat will cover 1 4 on each side of the image. Always mat your art 3 or wider. Materials and tools needed to frame your watercolor painting frame kit from your local framing store should include frame mat board i use a double mat foam core backing board d rings and self tapping screws nylon hanging string glass front. Bottom weighted mats bottom weighting means making the bottom mat width slightly wider than the top left and right sides to compensate for an optical illusion that happens where your bottom mat width looks narrower.

If a large portion of your paper is white mat with a light color and a darker inner mat in a complementary color. For these dimensions a one to two inch wide frame would look fine. Cheap joe s art stuff offers a variety of matboards mounting board pre cut mats mounts and mat frames for framing and presenting your artwork. An 8 x 10 standard frame may come with a 1 1 2 mat which allows you to frame a 5 x 7 image as well.