Alternative Framing Options for Watercolor Artists on a Budget

Tanya Powell, MLIS


Framing your finished watercolor painting serves two purposes.  First, your watercolor painting is protected.  Unlike other mediums that are applied to canvases, watercolor paintings are generally created on paper.  Unprotected projects may become damaged with human interaction or environmental factors such as humidity.  Second, a framed art piece looks finished, adding a professional appearance to your projects.  Protecting and displaying your artwork using custom framing can be expensive and for some artists, not an option.  An alternative to using custom framing is to incorporate a standard size, ready-made frame and mat, available in most retail stores.  This alternative requires some understanding of the dimensions of your watercolor paper and frame sizes.  A bit of planning before you begin an art project is all that is needed to make this option work for you. 

There are numerous ready-made frames available for purchase from retail stores.  These frames are generally designed for photographs.  Photographs are printed in standard sizes, most common sizes ranging from a small wallet size to a 16 x 20.  Craft stores rather than retail stores usually carry a wider range of ready-made frames, varying sizes, colors and designs.  Walmart does have a good selection of frames that include a mat.   

Here is where the planning part starts, you need to start with a specific size paper for your project.  A size that will fit into a ready-made frame. Easy you say, let us review the options.

 
The sizes of the watercolor paper pads shown above are 4 x 6, 6 x 8, 7 x 10, 9 x 12, 11 x 15 and a 28 x 30 sheet.  This is just a small sampling of the sizes of watercolor paper available.  The only pad that would fit a ready-made frame is the small pad of paper which is a 4 x 6.  The 11x15 pad of watercolor paper is one inch larger than an 11 x 14 ready-made frame.  Cutting the paper prior to painting is important, this will remove the necessity of deciding what part of your artwork to remove later.  Cutting one inch from one side of a blank piece of paper could be easily done with a ruler and a pair of scissors.  The more cuts that are needed, the more complicated the process.  The 7 x 10 pad of paper is too short for an 8 x 10 frame, you would need to cut the paper to fit into a 5 x 7 frame.

Retail stores sell ready-made mats that could be used to transition your art piece to a ready-made frame.  The same problem exists, the standard mat size does not correspond to the size of your watercolor paper.  To utilize a standard, ready-made frame for a project could involve some serious math skills.  I am an artist with a need for alternative framing options, not a mathematician.  After a series of trial and error attempts, I have come up with a way to make this process easier.

The paper has to be the size of a ready-made frame or fit the opening of a ready-made mat in order to fit into a ready-made frame.  Your watercolor paper will need to be the correct size or cut to fit.  Some will find this task of cutting easy, get out the ruler draw a line and use your scissors.  Others may be intimidated by this idea.  There is an old saying, "practice makes perfect", for me this practice is no longer enjoyable.  I decided to figure out a way that will make this task easier.

Using a large piece of foam core board I created a grid with the dimensions that correspond to standard ready-made frame sizes.  The grid works as a guide that I use to transfer the dimensions accurately to my paper before cutting.  The finished product is shown below:

The project took about 2 hours, planning and research another hour.  In the long run, this little gadget is going to save me a lot of time and aggravation.  

The photo below shows how the grid works.  I have a 28 x 30 sheet of watercolor paper that I want to cut the size to a 16 x 20 piece of paper.  I used two bread clips, one on each corner.  I then used some tape to hold the paper on the corner that touches the board.  You may also use tape on all the edges to hold the paper down.  You could also use binder clips instead of bread clips.  After your paper is secure, lift the board and turn it over.

This method provides the easiest way to get an exact measurement and have a straight edge.  The photo below shows the reverse side where you would draw your lines.  Once your lines are drawn, turn it back over, remove the paper and clips from the board and cut. 

To create your own system for cutting your watercolor paper purchase a large surface for the grid.  Hobby Lobby sells large plastic corrugated sheets or a large piece of foam core.  You will also need a t-square, pencil and Sharpie markers.

Step one:

Using the chart that I created at the bottom of this article which lists all the standard sizes I selected a standard ready-made frame size to begin, an 8 x 10.  Working from the lower left corner outward.  I used a t-square to measure 10" height by 8" width marking dashes along the length of the edge of the ruler with a pencil.  Next, I used a fine tip Sharpie to write the measurements, one on each side right in the middle of the line, 8 x 10.  I then use a Sharpie on top of the pencil line I drew, photo below.  

I repeated this step until all of the dimensions for the ready-made frames were marked.

The more measurements you add, the grid starts to look complicated.

Step two, add a ruler.  In this step you will also notate the size of each line.  In the photo below, on the right you can see where I added a ruler with one inch increments along the longest line in the grid.  Also in this photo note the measurement with an arrow pointing to a line.  This arrow brings your attention to the length of this line.  I also tried to keep the measurements lined up, writing them in a row as each one was added.  I chose to use a black sharpie marker to indicate each measurement but you could use a different color for each standard measurement.  The 8 x 10 measurement on the grid could be drawn with a green sharpie, the 11 x 15 could be drawn with a blue sharpie and so on.

We have not discussed mat options to this point but using a mat with your artwork ensures that it is not in direct contact with the glass.  Over time, your painting will be ruined from this contact.  Mats are also sold in standard sizes that will fit into a standard size frame.  Custom mats may be purchased to fit custom frames or standard frames.  The grid below lists the standard size mat and the opening of that mat.   

Framing spacers are another option to keep your art from touching the glass.  These spacers would be used in place of a mat.  The strips will need to be cut to fit into your frame.  The spacers are strips of plastic with an adhesive back.  Cut the strips to size, peel and stick to inside edge of the frame.  You want to make sure that you snug the strip up against the glass.  Place your painting inside and close up the back of the frame.  The link below tells more about them.  The grid could be used to measure before cutting the strips.

http://www.jerrysartarama.com/frametek-econospace-art-and-glass-separator?gclid=Cj0KCQjw8MvWBRC8ARIsAOFSVBVSiYbuhnu2RLjeAvFiIRv6qzAhiICv4h7CEUrtPKdbDlSaYaawpEEaAilOEALw_wcB
 

Measurements for the grid:

Hope this information will help you with your alternative framing options.  If you have any questions or if I can explain anything, send me an email, pastelpaintedhouse@gmail.com.

Thank you,

Tanya