I recently read an article in one of my favorite magazines, the Artist’s. The article is in the April, 2013 issue. Each month the magazine covers helpful tips and art interviews. I highly recommend any serious artist to subscribe to it; and, no, I’m not being paid to advertise for them. I sincerely do recommend it. Anyway, the article I have in mind gave helpful advice about framing pictures which I felt was worthy of discussing. Without plagiarizing the article, I wish to pass on some helpful hints and ideas they discussed, as well of some of my own.

Before I do, however, I wish to mention that the cost of framing pictures has always been a sore spot for me. Let’s all admit, a picture with a frame is so much better than a picture without one. It also helps to sell the picture when it is framed. But, sometimes the frame can cost as much as we plan to price our paintings and artwork, which can more than doubles the price when desiring to get an honest net profit for our work.

I nearly gulped when I got the invoice for framing my graphite drawing, “Grinding Gears of Time”.

At half price it was over a hundred and fifty dollars. Of course, this included all the things that go into pricing; such as, museum quality glass, matting, and decorative frame. Let’s face it, if an artist believes in the quality of their work, they do want to have a frame that enhances that quality…right? Perhaps, they should be better at business…hm-hm-hm. Okay, I really wasn’t going to sell this one anyway. I did this one just for me, so to me it was worth the money. But, what about those you do plan to sell?

Generally, artist can’t afford to put the money into quality frames, so they present their work with lesser quality, which tends to lessen their work when presented. Obviously, if they wish to sell their work for $300.00 dollars, they do not want to tag it with a $180.00 frame.

Tip: Get to know the framing market in your area as well as on the internet. There are a lot of small independent local framers that if they get to know you, and realize that you are a constant source of business for them, will discount to you.

Tip: Remember when considering mounting paper, everything must be acid free, and whatever you do must be able to undo so that work on paper must be able to be restored to the original condition.

Tip: Matting should compliment your work. Beware of overwhelming the artwork with matting.

Tip: Although metal frames tend to be less expensive, wood frames are much richer and can help sell your work for the price you are asking.

Tip: If you can afford to take wood working classes and the equipment to make your own frames, it may be well worth the investment.

Tip: Price your work at a show both framed and unframed while displaying it framed. In most cases one of two things will happen: either the customer feels they can get a cheaper frame and will purchase unframed, or they will realize how much the frame and artwork costs separately and willing to purchase as is.