HOW TO FRAME A PAINTING, OIL, ACRYLICS or WATERCOLOR ?

 

Framing an art ? Why ?

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If you like creative hobbies , Picture framing will be for you a good activity of relaxation which will bring to you much personal satisfactions and will allow you to decorate your home for just a little expenses.

A good frame can significantly enhance a painting... so, it's perfect to emphasize a child drawing, an old picture, an artist painting... And you bring a very personal touch to your home decorating.

To better highlight your works and arts, you will find in this site advices and documentation to make your own frames: with or without passe partout, depending on what you want ...

 

A good frame give to drawings or a paintings an undeniable artistic value. The frame emphasize the art-work inside… It catch and leads the spectator's eyes directly towards the art-work so that he can fully appreciate it.

You have the choice to do the frame by yourself or to have a painting framed professionnaly by picture framer according to your ideas and your tastes.

 But if you built it,  you will be more proud of you! You can say : I did it !

 

Start simple !

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At first, it is not to spend long hours cutting and assembling a mat and bevels.

You will find on this site some easy to do models , the simple passe-partout mounting or ready-made frames using which will you achieve for only a few tens of minutes of work.

And you will find also the more complex models, more elaborate frames which will require a more consequent material and knowing. Underneath, old engraving with double passe partout and heightening...

Later, if you wish to persevere, that will become more complicated! Here a "biseau LOLO", kind of passepartout in volume rather delicate to realize!

 

Learning with books

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One of the best ways to learn about framing is to buy specialized books that present and detail the achievements... here are the best books to initiate you, and more. I give you the Amazon links but you can find all these books elsewhere !

Last, you will take framing courses, which will give you the opportunity to improve your techniques : to have meetings with others beginners, to exchange with others impassioned… (see the page How to begin to frame from this site).

Ask around, there are always framing clubs where you can get all the advices you need. Books and courses combined is the right way to learn to frame arts and drawings !

You can click on the few links present on this site, particularly this one, best seller in framing books on Amazon.com !

 

What kind of frame ?

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If you have a canvas or a painted pannel to frame, make by yourself your custom wood frame … It's easy with just some tools you can find in your home toolbox.

Why not choose the "American box" the french name for floater frame ? It is one of the easiest picture frame to build by oneself ! Three models of wood canvas floaters frames are proposed to you on this site.

They don't present any technical difficulties, not require special individual tools and, especially, they will be at a very low cost for you ! If you're ready... Go to floater frames...

With a little more tools, you will be able to build mouldings and approach the “traditional” picture frame. All you need is a router and some bits to make the molding...

If you are not a DIY fan you can run to your professionnal picture framer with your canvas or drawing (his work is always excellent… but sometimes "salted" is the bill…).

Why not order the frame in a specialized store and even finish the assembly by yourself?

There are on the Internet, several manufacturers of frames “on line”… sometimes at very low cost prices ! (See pictureframes.com… for example). You will find a more important choice of mouldings and colors of and you will have saved several tens of bucks.

 

A drawing, a photograph, a watercolour…

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This type of art-work on paper requires a a little more elaborate framing than for paintings on canvas or pannels. You cannot directly put the drawing in the frame...

It's necessary to give it a little of depth and space around to emphasize it and also put a glass to protect it from the external aggressions.

In some pages of this site, you will find technical explanations and photographs in step by step which will help you to begin framing without problems and to build by yourself the essential mats and bisels…

You will also find the list of the Basic tools and supplies to start…

 

 

In any case the explanations you will find on ScrapNFrames will be enough for you and will allow you to create your first frames.

Do not hesitate to leave me a message in the event of a difficulty or for additional information: you can, without problem, to contact me by email or telephone!

Thanks for reading!