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Today I went to Michael's to get a cost estimate for framing of a canvas painting that I purchased recently from a real live artist! Imagine that! lol. The painting is large - roughly 50 inches x 50 inches. I knew that framing it would be kind of pricey, but I didn't think it would cost that much! About $500 for a rather modest gold-colored thin frame. I could buy a really nice accent piece of furniture for that! Seems a waste to spend that much on a frame- after all, isn't it the painting that should be the focus of attention?
I know I could have purchased a smaller painting, but this painting has special meaning to me. And it would look great in my living room. So, I'm wondering if this is one of those things where one can save money by D-I-Y framing? I don't have any experience in this area, so please forgive my ignorance on this topic. The painting does have a 2-inch border, as if it could be 'wrapped around' the sides of a frame, but the lady who was assisting me said that this would mean the staples would be visible around the sides, so I'd probably need to go with a proper frame of some sort.
Perhaps there are less expensive options out there, while not detracting from the appearance of the painting?
Is this canvas painting already stretched? Where are the staples now? I am not following what you have. Can you post a picture?
There are pairs of do it yourself frames that screw together. Buy two pairs to have all four sides. But if the canvas is stretched on wood it will not fit most frames. You will to get canvas adapters, they have them at Micheals. Some people can and do make their own frames with a table saw. Look up instructions on YouTube. I have done it but I had a very expensive and accurate table saw. Lots to consider.
Micheals does have 50% off on framing sometimes, you might want to keep an eye out and wait for that.
Yeah, it's all about the painting!
With that said, I have an artist friend that makes her own "frames" for her paintings out of lattice.
Yep, just a simple "wrap" of stained or painted lattice that is brad-nailed to the sides of the stretched canvas. The lattice hides the canvas staples, and when flush with the back of the canvas frame it will protrude slightly past the face creating a shadowed effect.
A nice oil painting deserves a nice wood moulding frame. It should be substantial enough to honor the artwork. The artist (or artist gallety) typically selects the frame.
I have never purchased an unframed oil. But I have spent just a little under that to have a numbered print framed, but that is with layers of handcut matboard & uv nonglare glass. An oil only needs the wood frame constructed & maybe an inner liner of linen covered wood, & a gold leaf liner...depending on the style & formality of work. I do not think $500 is unreasonable to frame such a size. I would take it to an artist's framing shop & ask the artist for a recommendation...perhaps you can use their discount for the work.
You could diy if you have experience miterimg & woodworking. It requires precision and a very fine expensive blade for a table saw. I could do it only because I spent a summer working in an art gallery. But by the time you buy the wood stock at retail, you may as well have a pro build it. Do you really want to practice on this? Since it is an odd size of 50 inch square you are not ikely to find an ugly oil framed at thrift store you could buy & recycle for the frame. In future buy standard sized if you are framing it yourself.
Perhaps there are less expensive options out there, while not detracting from the appearance of the painting?
Your thoughts?
I get my framing done at my local artist supply store.
WAY less expensive.... seriously.
And since the owner is an artist, she is fabulous with selecting mats and frames to complement the art.
Thanks all for the great replies! This certainly gives me a lot more options to explore!
Anyhow, someone had asked for me to post a photo of the painting. So, I attached it here. This isn't the best photo, I just rolled it out onto bedroom carpet so you can get an idea of what it looks like and the painted 'border' around it- which may or may not be visible in the end...but I kind of like it as a 'mat'. What do you all think? The painting is called 'Walking in the Dark" and is supposed to be a mother and daughter...being close to my mom it touched me very much! And I like to imagine the 'ghost' image in the background to be my grandma! Maybe too sentimental for some people but I like this sort of painting!
What I like about it is that you like it and it creates an emotional connection. A friend of mine once remarked that a lot of the art I have collected over the years contain paths, alleyways, doors or open windows. She said that they really reminded her of me - always embarking on my next adventure. This is one of my favorites.
So if you "unrolled" it it would seem to be unstretched. This needs to be stretched. You could consider a wood panel to wrap it around and that would open up a lot of moldings to use instead of stretching it on wood slat stretchers. And I would do it sooner than later, keeping it rolled up might make the oil paint flake off.
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