How To Choose a Picture Frame That Compliments Your Artwork

How To Choose a Picture Frame That Compliments Your Artwork

A beautiful piece of art deserves a picture frame that accentuates its strengths. At Frames Now, we understand the importance of matching a frame to your desired piece. That’s why we offer an extensive range of custom picture frames and 200 different varieties of colour mat, allowing for an enormous amount of choice when selecting the ideal style and colour to compliment your work.

With that in mind, let’s look at some of the considerations that go into selecting the perfect picture frame!

Colour Conscious

While it may appear to be a relatively simple choice, colour selection is one of the most important elements in picture frame selection. Whether that means a simple matte black or festive vibrancy, there are few things more impactful to how your piece is viewed than the colours that surround it. Therefore, it should be one of the first considerations made when selecting your frame.

This same consideration should also be made in regard to your chosen matboard, the backing board on which your artwork will be displayed. Not only does your matboard provide an additional layer of security and protection for your piece, but it also makes up the visual space in which your piece will be viewed.

There are a few factors that must be addressed when deciding on colours, including:

  • Complementing the colour of your piece

    The perfect picture frame colour for one piece is not necessarily going to suit another, which is why it’s important to choose a frame based on the things you are looking to accentuate in your artwork. Clashing colour palettes can quickly cause discord, diminishing the aesthetic appeal of your piece in a dramatic and easily-avoidable way.

  • Going against intuition

    Most of us would assume that a dark frame would make a bright image brighter and more vibrant. However, this isn’t necessarily the case. In practice, a dark frame will accentuate the darker tones in the artwork, which can overwhelm brighter pieces and draw attention away from the work itself.

Considering Picture Frame Style

When deciding on a frame for your piece, it’s important to consider the primary purpose that you’re looking to fulfill. This will be different depending on the style of artwork that you’re looking to accompany.

For example:

  • Oil and acrylic paintings

    Given the amount of complexity and texture usually associated with both oil and acrylic pieces, it’s important that the frame doesn’t distract or draw the eye away from your intended focal point. Therefore, as a general rule, your picture frame should be simple, allowing the canvas to stand as a unified whole that invites viewers to delve into its finer details.

  • Art on paper

    Unlike a canvas, paper doesn’t offer a defined border that allows it to be effectively presented as a standalone piece. So, the purpose of a frame for paper artworks is to enhance their presentation or appearance, as well as offering additional structure and protection.

In addition, when mounting paper artwork, it’s important to ensure that all materials used are 100% acid-free. Otherwise, you can experience degradation and discolouring over time. This discolouration is often caused by the acids found in common cardboard backing, an issue that has devalued many an artwork in the past.

Be inspired by our framing portfolio

Common mistakes

There are a few commonly known mistakes. They are:

  • Frame pairings

    Whilst having the same picture frame for every piece throughout your home may be cohesive at first glance, it only works if you are choosing art that matches your desired frame. Otherwise, the singular beauty of each artwork will be diminished, as you aren’t selecting accompanying frames that work to each piece’s strengths.

    The style of your artwork should dictate the style of picture frame you choose. A well-developed piece of art creates its own world which is separate from the space surrounding it. So, if you find the perfect frame that compliments your piece, it can effectively be hung anywhere. In other words, if you are hanging a contemporary piece in a vintage room, the chosen frame shouldn’t have to be vintage for the piece to fit in. If you want additional information on hanging frames, read this short and sweet guide to hanging picture frames.

  • Letting taste prevail

    It may seem counterintuitive to say, but personal preferences aren’t necessarily the best measuring stick for how good a frame will look in your home. Often, an individual will find a frame they like and an artwork they like, only to find that the two are aesthetically incompatible later down the line.

At Frames Now, our framing specialists are more than happy to assist you when looking for the perfect frame style to perfectly complement your artwork.

Choosing the ideal picture frame doesn’t have to be complicated, it’s all about finding elements that work to the strengths of your artwork. For all of your custom picture framing needs, contact the experts at Frames Now today!

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