Plein Aire Painters of the Bluegrass

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Framing

Framing

General Rules

Your biggest single expense as a painter (other than those trips to France) will be frames.

Always, always, always, buy standard sized canvases. Then you don’t have to have a custom frame built and pay for it! This means the following sizes: 6x8, 5x7, 8x10, 12x16, 16x20, 20x24, 24x36. Sometimes you can find ready-made frames for 12x12, 10x12, 14x18, but before you pick up a brush, select a standard size canvas or canvasboard and make sure you can find a frame to fit it at the price you want to pay. Assume you’re going to make a sale-able painting, why not?!

Based on your thumbnail sketch, you may just think “This scene requires a 13x21 canvas”. But, please, at this early stage, change the width and length proportions to fit a standard canvas, the pro’s do it all the time. Redraw your thumbnail sketch, think again, be creative.

Size Matters

The biggest strategic mistake painters make is to use a frame which it too thin. This says to potential buyers “Gee, that artist doesn’t think much of her/her art, ‘cause they choose that cheap, thin frame”. Or, “how can they ask the price they are asking with that cheap frame” - potential buyers can’t envision how the painting will look in their home with a cheap, thin or inappropriately-styled frame.

Here’s a handy table for the canvas size and frame width:

Painting	Frame Width
5x7	2 inches
6x8	2 ½ inches
8x10	2 ½ - 3 ½ inches
9x12	3 inches – 3 ½ inches
11x14, 12x16	3 inches – 4 inches
20x30, 22x28	3 ½ - and up

Style

Keep the frame style (degree of ornamentation) appropriate to your subject and painting style. A true impressionist (dots of color all over, like Van Gogh) can go with a more complex style frame, most of the time. If you’re a Kentucky realist/plein aire landscape painter, chose a simple gold or black frame. If you’re really lucky you’ll find a black frame with a gold lip (where it touches the canvas). This is all the rage today and for good reason: it highlights the darks in your painting.

Note: Complex, highly ornamented frames can conflict with complex paintings/subject matter, which, after all, is what you are really selling. Don’t draw attention away from the art.

If you have a really dark painting (nocturne, lots of shadow), don’t use a black frame – it calls out “dead” to the viewer.

Don’t buy too many different styles of frame, if a painting doesn’t sell, you want to be able to reuse the frame on a newer painting. IF you come to have a number of paintings in a show, consistency wins out….in sales.

Sources of Ready-Made Frames

Here are sources for reasonably prices ready-made frames for the beginning, or advanced, painter. Comments are strictly my opinions.

	Art Supply Warehouse: e.g. Classique 3” gold frame 8x10 $28 plus shipping You can also check other mail-order sources like Jerry’s Art Supply, Dick Blick, etc. ASW is representative.

	ASW Plein Aire 3” Black 8x10 $15 plus shipping

	ASW Plein Aire 3” Gold 8x10 $15 plus shipping

	Hobby Lobby, Brandon Crossing Road off Nicholasville Rd, Nicholasville. This is worth checking out periodically. I have no notion how often they restock, it’s a mystery. A lot of seconds you have to watch out for. But their 2 ½ inch frames are reasonable - $18 on sale for 11x14 for example for this off-black one with a gold lip. Best for canvas boards.
	This one is also 2 ½ inch off-black reverse taper. Good for either canvases or canvas boards.
	This one is 2 ½ inch true black reverse taper. Good for either canvases or canvas boards.
	Michaels, Regency Center, Nicholasville Road, Lexington Their frames suitable for paintings were ceramic, not wood, to which I find it difficult to attach a canvas or canvasboard. But, check their framing service’ rack of frames returned, made the wrong size, etc, some good bargains here, like $7 for a 16x20 2” wide, which you could have cut down by Lexington Framing Supply to a 12x16, 8x10, etc.
	The Great Frame Up, East Reynolds Road at Nicholasville Road A full-service framing shop. They do not stock ready-mades: however, they do have returns, wrong sizes on sale, etc. as will any frame shop.
	Wholesale Frame Company http://wholesaleframeco.com/ Good prices on 8x10’s, moderate prices on larger frames, see their collection of “plein aire” frames.
	Lyle Teague Moulding Company 410B West Main Street Hendersonville, TN 37075 615-824-8669 Wholesale Only: They do not mail phone orders, you must show up in person, they have extensive variety of ready-mades and will cut to fit/measure if they are not too busy. Best to call in advance and arrive in the morning. No charge cards.

Updated 11/22/16