If there’s ever an art medium that artists could help their customers with more, it’s the framing of watercolour paintings. A task that is so easy to get the balance wrong, resulting in the frame, or the components of it overpowering the work, detracting from the viewing pleasure perceived in earlier viewings.
Whether you’re the creator or the customer, if you have a watercolour painting, the choice of how to frame it is going to be simple. Watercolour isn’t simple to work with, but it is impressively simple to keep its presentation clean, and subtle, and the viewer’s eye on the art within the frame.
3 Things to Focus on to Ensure the Framing Compliments Watercolour Paintings
1. The Size of the Frame
The presentation of a watercolour painting can be drastically different based on what’s used in the framing kit, including the choice of frame moulding, mounting technique, and its size. The size is the first choice that must be made. When including a mount in the frame, it’s generally two to three inches of a border around the painting that keeps it looking uniform.
Using a larger frame with wider borders minimises the impact of the painting. To keep the emphasis on the art rather than how it’s framed, choose a frame size that has sufficient space for no larger than a 3-inch border, or 2 inches if you want to play it safe.
2. Use a subtle frame moulding
Styles of frame mouldings are diverse. The materials are either wood or metal. Wood in a soft hue works well with light coloured paintings. For darker toned, or bolder coloured paintings, metal frames in black, white, or silver, can give it a contemporary finish.
The types of frames that may overshadow watercolours are ornate and other highly decorative frame mouldings. To keep the emphasis on the painting, the qualities to look for in a frame moulding are clean lines, and a simple design.
For an artist relying on the presentation to win a contest or a sale, it’s imperative to showcase the art. Use the frame and mount to support the art, taking care not to overshadow it.
3. Use a Single or Double Mount (based on the colour tones)
A picture mount is a required piece of a framing kit for paintings. It puts a barrier between the painting and the glazing, preventing damage from occurring. Since it’s not an option to leave it out, you may as well get the benefit of using it to your advantage to emphasise the work. The simplest way to do that is to use a colour of mount that compliments the tone of the artwork. For most watercolours, that’s a soft hue.
Various shades of white from chalk white to vanilla, eggshell white to ivory, provide a neutral, yet complimentary finish to paintings. In total, it’s estimated that there are over 100,000 shades of white. Each one is considered neutral. For watercolours featuring striking colours requiring a bolder framing style, use a double mount to introduce a predominant colour minimally, rather than opting for a more intricate frame.
The advantage of the double mount is that the core mount board being neutral, keeps the emphasis on the final finish of the painting with the secondary, stronger coloured mount border surrounding the painting, further complimenting the bold choice of colours used.
