I talked about framing and using watercolor paper at a certain size before but I need to remind my students again about how expensive it is to custom frame your watercolors if they are not painted to a standard size frame but more importantly is the mat opening size.
The problem with painting to a standard size frame in watercolor is you have
to figure out not what the size of the frame is but what size opening mat you are painting for, that fits in a standard size frame. Cutting a standard size mat to fit your painting is easy, but you want to make sure your mat looks good. Mats are what you need to pay attention to. When you have a wide frame you can use a thinner mat and the same goes with a thinner frame you can use a wider mat.
First off here the most popular standard frame sizes, these are the
frame sizes that you will see the most of and will cost you the least.
- 5x7
- 8x10
- 11x14
- 14x18
- 16x20
- 18x24
- 20x24
- 24x36
Then there are some standard sizes that are not as popular but are still cheaper than custom framing.
- 8.5x11
- 10x20
- 12x16
- 22x28
- 20x30
- 24x30
You don't see very many standard frames at local art stores over 36" so if you paint big you
will probably be spending a lot on custom framing.
Here are some
standard paper block sizes that I have looked into and tried to figure out what the size paper would fit in what size mat and frame.
- 9 x12 block fits into a 11x14 frame but with an inch or so mat. It
can also fit a 14x18 frame with a wide 3" mat. It will depend on the size frame you have for the 9x12 painting.
- 10x14 blocks will fit in a 14x18 frame with a 2" all around size mat or a 16x20 with a 3" size mat
- 12x16 blocks will fit in a 16x20 frame with a 2" all around size mat. This is a small thin size mat so I suggest you don't paint all the way to the edge of this paper or at least crop into this paper with the mat so you can
make a wider than 2" all around mat.
- 14x20 blocks will fit in an 18x24 Frame with a 2" all around size mat. This 2" wide mat is not wide enough for this size frame, so again I would suggest painting smaller then the full 14x20 size of paper.
- 18x24 blocks will fit in an 24x30 Frame with a 3" all around size mat.
Then there are the
22x30 watercolor paper sheets that don't really fit a standard size frame/mat. You would have to trim down the sheet to 18x30 so it could fit into a 24x36 frame with a 3" mat all the way around.
Cut the paper in half and you get a 15x22 half sheet that usually goes well into a 22x28
frame.
1/4 Sheets which are 11x15 fit into a 16x20 frame.
Happy Framing!
David
