Portrait ordering information - Framing and care of your pet portraits and people portraits

Framing and care of your Artwork		Back

I get many emails with questions about how to care or frame the artwork once it’s finally at home. This information is usually well known among artists and we sometimes forget about that people don’t know about things that are matter of course to us. I also think it’s important that people who commission my artwork take properly care of it, because even though the artwork isn’t in my possession anymore I’m still emotionally attached to it and I want it to be in safe hands. Therefore I’m giving you this info to read on my web site.

When you receive your portrait, you should consider getting it framed as soon as possible to prevent any damage. If you don’t have knowledge about framing your self (which is common), bring your portrait to a professional framer. Of course it is hard to know the difference between a good or bad framer, but the choice is made by you when it comes to it. Good framers have sense about composition and colours, are very finicky and accurate. Many times you can’t see how they work before you see the final result, but good framers should be able to give you advice and answers about things you are wondering about. Finally you will be able to judge the framers work by the quality he provided to you. Most good framers have a huge range of mounts and frames available; choose a frame that suits your home and the painting according to your personal taste.

Framing different mediums

Oil Paintings

Oils don’t need to be framed under glass; in fact I don’t believe it’s suitable at all. The reflection from the glass destroys the matt and soft colours of the innate surface and makes no justice to the painting. An oil painting needs to be framed by a professional framer. There are many different levels of quality frames to choose from. My advice would be to tell the framer about your budget, personal taste and let him tell you which frames are available to choose from. He shod be able to give you a quote of price as son as you made up your mind. A framer has many sample corners that can be viewed and added next to the painting corners for you to have a presentiment about what the final result could look like. There are even plastic and other low quality frames to buy, but I wouldn’t recommend them.

Watercolour paintings and drawings

Usually the artist decides on composition of the painting or drawing, but if you still want to crop the artwork, don’t crop too much because there is no turning back. When you order a watercolour portrait created by me I always send it trimmed along with a mount already created. But those are white simple mounts, so if you are thinking of getting another colour with several layers and extra fine lines with other beautiful choices, go to the framer. Mounts are pieces of white or coloured cards that are placed around the watercolours and drawings before they are framed under glass. Those frames are usually thinner then the frames used for framing oils and are once again available in various qualities, styles and colours. The glass for the frame can be glossy or matt, but matt makes the dawning or painting look a lot better. Never frame a drawing or watercolour directly touching the glass, always use mounts before you frame the artwork.

Hanging your portrait

To hang a portrait on the wall might sound easy, but there are several things you need to think about before you do that. You should read the “Caring for your oil portrait” part first, even though you will hang up a framed watercolour or drawing because some information concerns all kinds of artwork.

• Position your artwork in relation to accidental damage. Don’t hang your artwork close to furniture or behind doors.
• Don’t hang your portrait over heat or moisture places like open fires, radiators or in bathrooms.
• Think about direct lightening from outside environment when you hang your artwork on a wall. No constant direct light shod be exposed to the painting.
• Think about hanging your artwork in a room that doesn’t build up dirt and dust quickly.

Placing fitments

When placing fitments to the back of the frame you should be thinking about doing that to the sides and not on the top. Carefully place the screws to the thickest part of the frame and then place a wire (double) to the fitments, the wire should make a bow. Never do this to the wood if it’s an oil painting.

Position on the wall

Finally the position how you place the frame is important to look nice on the wall. Many people do the mistake by placing their artworks to high, or hanging them in different levels. The placement should be appealing and comfortable to the eye. The position is also determined depending on size and dimension.

When you finally decided where to hang your artwork, you might take help from someone else to hold up the painting so you can stand back and see how it looks. Your eyes should look straight to the middle of the artwork. You might take help of a ruler if you have other paintings on the same wall and you want to position the artwork to the same level. Remember to mark the wall (with a pencil) from position of the wire bow on the back at the same time as you keep in mind where the final position of the frame should be. Measure the distance from the wire bow to the upper edge of the frame. Choose a steady and big enough hook compared to size of the painting. Hammer or drill a hole where you’ve made the pencil mark. Finally hang the framed artwork and adjust it to be straight on the wall. There is nothing uglier then an imbalanced painting on the wall, even if it’s only wrong for a cm.

Direct sunlight

When thinking about location where to hang your oil painting, try not to exposure it to constant direct sunlight, because it will surely fade out some of the colours after time. Yet the painting looks better in darker areas in a room with proper artificial lightening.

Extreme heat and open fires

Even if it might be tempting to hang a painting over a fireplace it wouldn’t be good for the painting, also keep your painting away from hot radiators! Remember to never expose the oil painting to extreme heat, extreme cold or extreme amount of water. Damages occur due to poor environmental conditions and materials in a painting respond by contracting and expanding. The paint will crack and wood may spit because the structure becomes stressed.

Handling with the artwork

Think about the stretched canvas when you must lean the painting somewhere. The surface is very delicate and can not be leaned against any pointed objects. That will leave a buckle to the canvas and it’s very hard to stretch out again properly, if even possible at all. Instead think about leaning the painting to the stretcher bars (wood) to prevent any damage.

Canvas and wood damage

If you care for the oil painting it will probably never happen. But if something bad would happen anyway, like a crack, hole in the stretched canvas or warps and splits in the wood. Don’t try to repair the damage your self, bring the painting to a professional conservator to fix the damage properly. It probably won’t cost a lot and it’s sure worth it.

Cleaning

Oil paintings don’t need a lot of attention once framed and hanging on the wall. It takes time before paintings collect any dust at all. But it’s not good for a painting to be dusty because a thick layer can dry out the paint and that results in cracking or peeling. Also don’t forget to dust the frame regularly; well it just doesn’t look good with a dusty frame around a beautiful painting. Never spray anything like an ordinary cleaning agent to the surface of the canvas, dust with soft dry cloth. Varnish the surface of the painting if it looks a bit dry. It creates a protective surface which will both enhance and keep the surface safe from possible cracking.

Transport and storage

If you are moving or if you must transport your oil painting for another reason, you have to transport the painting with proper way of packing. Try to create a flat cardboard box (like I do when I send the portrait painting to your home) and wrap around two layers of bubble wrap or Styrofoam around the painting before packing it to the box you created, this way you will prevent any possible damages. Don’t forget to unpack the painting as soon as possible to avoid moisture build-up through time, because that also might damage your painting.

So you would love to own your very own high quality portrait created by me? To commission your portrait is easy! Simply click on the button below and follow the steps and read the info to create your own portrait. It can’t get simpler!