Mat Colour Options

Young Aussie

Grumbler in Training
Joined
Jun 21, 2006
Posts
13
Loc
Tasmania, Australia
Dear All

I know that there are heaps of options, but I am finding that I keep going back to the old faithfuls, black, off white, white and light grey - either by themselves or in combination (Double/triple).

I recently got a suede mat, it was sort of a cream but I hate it and will return it - especially due to the price I would not hold onto it.

Just wondering if this is common, do you guys find yourself using the same mats time and time again, they are classic colours black, white etc and make just about any piece of work look stunning with the right frame ?

Just dont want to be doing the same thing time and time again ??

Thanks guys, might have a look at the gallery for ideas.

Regards

Young Aussie
shrug.gif
 
Umm, no.

Would really help my stocking though!

I tend toward mid tones in the background, or high texture like linens and suedes. But, often, an off white top mat can set an image off nicely. Kind of depends what you are framing and where it's going to go?
 
old/bad habits--hard to break away from!!! trouble with "doing the same thing time and time again" is that 1-it's comfortable, 2-it's quicker, 3-it does work! Had a customer come in last mo....picked a print we've done lots of--usually with tans/greens--and picked a redish tone with an off-grey...just knew it was gonna look like crap!!! turned out VERY nice. I would NEVER have picked either one of those...maybe we should take our old fave's and put them under the counter where we have to work to get them out????? be kinda like training an old dog new tricks???
 
I don't often go for the white/off-white/black/grey colour mats, although when I do, I have a few favourites that I use more frequently than others. Like Cliff, I try to pick out the mid-tones from the background. I just find that a 'coloured' mat adds a richness and warmness to a piece that a neutral just can't. Colour selection is certainly a very personal taste and what one person loves, another may hate. I've framed the same print for two different people, each choosing two different mat/fillet combinations. Both options looked very nice but gave a different 'mood' to the picture.

I use a lot of suedes in shadow boxes and I'm hoping to start doing fabric wrapped mats/liners soon. I have my Fabric Wrapping 101 DVD and supplies; I just need to find the time to start practising! :D

BTW, Welcome to the Grumble!
 
I think the young Aussie might have started out framing his work that way. White Black grey...are you a photographer? This would make sense. When we get used to using the same thing it is very difficult to get out of that rut. Sometimes it is best to let someone else design so you can see what they come up with. Other times it is nice to bring work to another framer just to see what they design. It helps to see why and what others are doing to shake our ideas.

Change is good

PL
 
I use black quite often - but no, I don't stick with the basics at all.

I find them boring! LOL!! (I'm a colour girl!)

I especially don't like white - I know that it's a "gallery" and photographer/artist thing, but I always just find that it's so bright that it over shadows the work and the first thing you see when you look at it is that bright white mat.

However- if a customer wants white - I will give them white - but I will also show them some other colors to compare the white against - and most of the time they will not pick the white after seeing the other colours.

I don't have a common color system - I evaluate each picture, ask the customer if they have any preferences and then just start color matching from different elements of the picture.
 
I had a corner sample for an embossed mat that I was going to toss because it was so weird/ugly I felt I would never use it. I now have to order a sheet because it is the perfect choice for a painting where nothing else seemed to work. Go figure. I tend to work with very traditional art and framing, but this will remind me to be open-minded.
 
I have 2 framed identical photos in the shop, hanging next to each other. One is matted in white. The other in a medium-to-dark blues and greens to compliment the photo of a stormy Lake Tahoe day. "Wow, what a difference that colored mat makes, it really sets it off!" is the comment they bring all the time. A good demo tool. Usually converts the white-mat-only-photo customers, who think that "colored mats take away from the picture." Sometimes they do, if they're the wrong color! They just need to see to believe.
 
Originally posted by Val:

I have 2 framed identical photos in the shop, hanging next to each other. One is matted in white. The other in a medium-to-dark blues and greens to compliment the photo of a stormy Lake Tahoe day
What a great idea to have those two frames on display. I might have to steal that idea
! Sometimes it is hard for people to visualize how a coloured mat can enhance the picture, so if you don't have an Integrated Framer/Picture It First in your shop (and I don't :( ), 2 frames displayed side by side is the next best thing.
 
Sometimes, the "old-fashioned way" isn't too bad, is it? ;)

I hate to say this but..."A picture speaks a thousand words!"
 
Thanks heaps guys and gals for your replies !!

A number of you have picked it, yes I am a photographer ! haha

Also I have been framing a lot of black and white prints lately, so I guess that is why I feel I have been doing the same thing over and over again.

But you will all be glad to know that I ordered in a number of different sheets of matboard today and will most definelty be playing around with it all as soon as the order arrives. I think adding or complimenting the picture is the key, selecting a tone or tones that you can compliment the picture with is the key?

Thanks again and happy framing

Young Aussie
 
Paul Frederick says;(you must say this with a French accent!)
"The artwork is jealous! Do not make the artwork jealous with your framing, or you are a baaad framer!"
(at least he used to say this in framing school, years ago!) That has never left me.
 
Young Aussie - You are right that something complimentary is the key, but you will get varying opinions on what is complimentary. Check out a color wheel and you will find that the compliment of yellow is purple.

So what compliments black & white? To me, the obvious answer is <font color=red>red</font>. My very favorite mat to put on black & white photos is Crescent's "Havana" linen. It's sort of brickish red with some brown in it. If the blacks and whites are very stark with not too much gray, I like a nice, bright Chinese red.

Neither competes with any of the black-white-gray tones in the photo and, best of all, they're unexpected.

Kit
 
Originally posted by RoboFramer:
I have two basic rules.

1. Don't compete with the artwork.

2. See rule one!
I have two basic rules too:

1. Harmonize with the artwork.

2. See rule one!
 
Of course, often a number of solutions work equally well. I have particularly noticed this when trying to do a competition piece. Without context, (room decor, color surround, personal taste, etc.) a great many options can look equally nice.

One thing that surprised me (but shouldn't have) is how much different a mat/frame combination can look in the hanging context. A case in point was a print I did a few months ago. The piece looked GREAT in the shop. Double mat in light to mid tone biege/orange/brown colors. The customer took it home and said it looked awful. She brought it in to show me and it looked great. She was very confused. I went to her house and discovered the "off white" wall was actually a blue. The "neutral looking mats" in my shop became garish orange in context. I re-matted with what looked way TOO light mats in the shop, and they looked very good in her home.

Nothing's every easy. sighh
 
I use clothing as an analogy to choosing mat color. There was a long trend in clothing - white, black & gray was all you saw. Boring, but a very classic look. When you got up in the morning you didn't have to turn on a light to dress because no matter what came out of your closet (in white, black and gray), it all matched. I always felt during that period that clothes designers were afraid of color!

The same concept goes with picking mats. White, black and gray are classy looks - too much of it is boring (don't want to offend anyone here - just an opinion). Of course, I couldn't get enough of it with work like Ansel Adams!

But color is fun and appropriate if it doesn't take over the art. I LOVE a triple mat with the top and bottom mat the same color and an accentuating color in the middle (use different reveal sizes to help grab color). I have a picture framed this way as an example and the concept sells!...especially my male customers!! True!
 
Good analogy, Sherry. I use that one, too.

Let's say you have a black and white scarf. Is it going to stand out better against a black coat or a red one?

Ron - no, the mats aren't legal in this country but I have a "contact" in Destin Florida who smuggles them in for me.

Kit
 
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