Before choosing a frame for your picture you should consider the following 6 points

1. In what medium (watercolour, acrylic, oil, pastels etc.) has it been painted?
2. Is it better with or without a frame and then, traditional frame or modern?
3. How big is the picture and where is it to be hung?
4. Are there key colours in the picture that you want to pick out through the frame or mount?
5. Does the frame allow the picture to breathe?
6. What glass?

Some websites offer you the opportunity to upload a photo of your picture and then custom-build a digital frame of your choice, based upon the frames that they stock. Here is a good one – https://www.easyframe.co.uk/

Now let us take one point at each time –

1. What medium?

Watercolours & Pastels

Traditionally, watercolours and pastels sit behind a mat or mount card with an aperture to reveal the painting, with the whole lot then set behind picture glass. Because of the relatively delicate nature of watercolour paper, it needs to be protected behind a mount, if only to avoid having to tape it directly to the frame.

With a pastel, the glass obviously protects the picture as with a watercolour, but the mount is essential to keep the pastel from touching the glass and smudging the image and ruining it.

The colour of the mount should usually compliment the key colours used in the picture. But many artists prefer to mount their watercolour pictures in pale colours like cream or ivory not to subdue the vibrancy of their picture not to mention that they blend with most wall colours on which it would hang.

Any picture with a mount tends to require a thinner frame, otherwise it starts to overpower the actual piece of art. This is because the mount card already acts as a ‘frame’ so the picture frame itself is adding another border.

Oils & Acrylics

With oils and acrylics, the robust nature of the paint and the canvas or board surfaces, means the less is the need for a protective mount or glass. Therefore, oils and acrylics can take a much heavier frame in order to balance the fact that the image is visible right up to the inner edge of the frame itself.

Glass is used in this case as a protective measure to prevent inquisitive, sticky fingers and the like from damaging the painting.

2. (a) Is it better with or without a frame?

As mentioned above, watercolour paintings and pastels are best protected within a frame and covering glass but acrylics and oils do not necessarily need to. Remember, watercolours cannot be cleaned with a damp cloth as the colours would run. Also, glass and properly ‘sealed’ frames from the back gives the watercolour painting some degree of protection from splashed liquids and insects that feed on paper!

Modern rooms, hallways and offices calls for a frameless painting but this depends on one’s individual taste. There are very nice modern frames that go very well but one should note that framing an oil or acrylic painting that is also painted around the edges of a thick wooden support would lose much of this nice effect. Also, an abstract or contemporary painting is more likely to look better without a frame because of the loose nature of the subject and colours.

Finally, remember also that framing a painting that runs to from edge to edge, one would be losing (hiding) about 6mm from each side behind the ‘rebate’ or holding recess of the frame. Having said all this, one cannot imagine a classic piece of art work whether in watercolour, oil or acrylic without a nice, bold frame that makes a statement by itself e.g. would you imagine a frameless Monalisa for example?

          (b) A traditional or modern frame?

 Modern frames suggest clean lines, tidiness and perhaps suit a picture in a contemporary style, whereas more traditional frames give out an air of longevity, classiness and timelessness.

3. How big is your piece of art and where shall you hang it? (a) What space on the wall do you have?

If you want your piece of art to hang in a tiny corner or between two pieces of furniture, a large frame plus mount might make the overall picture too large for the space.

As a rule of thumb, you can add about 4 to 6” (100 – 125mm) the height and width of your canvas or paper and this will give you a rough idea of the picture size once framed.

            (b) What type of surrounding furniture it will sit next to? Is it dark wood furniture, or light-coloured contemporary furniture? Should you get a frame which complements the furniture and decor, or one that’s closer to the picture?

There’s no single or right answer to this. Only you can decide. You’re the one who has to live with the picture if it’s in your home. This is the reason why pictures are sold without a frame on my website so that YOU will make the choice. My frank opinion though, is that for example, in a very rustic room a traditional frame blend better. Vice versa, a modern hall or office makes a modern frame look more in place.

             (c) What is the background wall decor like? Is there a patterned wall paper or a pale wash?

Pale wall washes are in harmony to almost any type of frame especially if the wash is of a neutral colour. Notice that next time you visit an art gallery. With patterned wallpaper or textured walls, one has to be more careful both as the choice of frame and the art composition e.g. a classy, elaborate wallpaper pattern is more suitable for a classy painting rather than a bright modern art piece.

4. Are there key colours in the picture that you want to pick out through the frame or mount?

It’s always good if you can pick out one or two key colours from the painting that are repeated in the frame or mount or maybe the mount has just a thin line of one of the colours, say, the colour of the sky that is also being reflected in a mass of water.

You could also have a double mount; the outer one perhaps a neutral ivory, with an inner one showing one of the interior’s colours as an attractive border. One should be careful though not to pick a strong colour that will be overpowering the whole picture. Remember that the mount and frame should be complimenting the picture and not competing with it!

You don’t have to pick up any of the colours in the frame of course. You might be perfectly happy with a broad dark, wooden frame with a gold border, representing none of the colours in the picture, but just as capable of adding a real lift to your piece of art.

5. Does the frame allow the picture to breathe?

Does the frame appear to literally wrap itself tightly around the edges of the picture like a boa-constrictor, because it’s, proportionally, too small for the picture itself?

For example, a picture which is 18” (35cm) square, which is not particularly big, probably needs a frame around 3” (75mm) or wider to achieve a proper balance and to say to the viewer “look at this painting, isn’t it superb!” Alternatively, a mount has the same effect as a wide frame and this especially for not too big a painting.