Framing And Mat Standards For Watercolors

Think of the mat as a window drawing the eye in towards your work.

Framing and mat standards for watercolors.

If a large portion of your paper is white mat with a light color and a darker inner mat in a complementary color. 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. Your eye can usually tell if your painting is out of proportion to 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.

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. If you mat with those background colors the artist s intended focal point will still draw the eye to it.

If you ve added a four inch mat to a 16 x 20 inch watercolor your new dimensions are 24 x 28 inches. So a mat for a 5 x. 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. This allows the mat to overlap the image slightly holding it behind the frame.

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. In general using the dominant colors of the art in the mat draws the eye to the art rather than to the framing. 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. Generally the top mat will be darker on a.

Generally the mat will cover 1 4 on each side of the image. 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. Always mat your art 3 or wider. For these dimensions a one to two inch wide frame would look fine.

We recommend a mat at least twice as wide as the width of the frame. Museum quality made with 100 rag should last 25 to 50 years. I almost always double mat my art. Matting and framing your work.

Note that in many watercolor competitions they require a white mat so it is better to double mat in white. 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. Mats are made from mat board which should be made from all cotton acid free fiber.