Select a frame that is sturdy, clean and in good condition.
Place your frame front side down on a flat, clean, sturdy surface.
Replace existing glass with plexiglass if necessary. Frames with glass will not be accepted in most art shows.
Oils and acrylics are generally not framed under glass or plexiglass. If you’ve mounted your watercolor on board, then it does not require glass or plexi either.
Clean the interior surface of the plexi/glass well with a dust-free cloth and set aside.
For watercolors, photos and other paper art
Place a clean, new mat front side down onto flat, clean, sturdy surface.
Line up your art piece so that it is the way you want to see it from the front side.
Use
linen tape to tape your art to the mat on the top edge only.
Check the mat from the front side again to be sure that it’s still lined up correctly.
Place the mat front side down into your frame. Pick it up and view from the front to be sure there is no pet hair, dust or other particles left behind. Clean again if necessary. Place matted art into frame.
When you’re sure it is clean and lined up correctly, place a piece of acid-free paper over the matted art.
Add backer board or acid-free foam core and tighten into place.
Wiring a wood frame
Measure your frame from top to bottom, for example 21". Then divide by three which is 7”.
Measure 7” down from the top on both the left and right sides of the frame and make a mark.
Center your D-ring over your mark making sure that none of the hardware shows from the front side. Use an awl or nail to get your hole started about 1/8” deep.
Place your D-ring, flat side down onto the frame, over your starter hole, with ring toward the center of frame. Screw into place. Repeat on the other side.
Cut a length of picture hanging wire about twice the width of the frame. Loop it through the D-ring, leaving a 3-4” tail.
Loop this tail back over the long end, pulling taut, and then back through the D-ring, then under and over the long wire. Pull taut.
Then tightly wrap the tail 6-7 times around the long wire. Clip the end of the tail off with a wire cutters and use duct tape to tape over the end.
Stretch the long end of the wire up toward the the top center of the frame, stopping about 2-1/2” below the top of the frame.
Hold it there with your thumb and bring the end of the wire down to the remaining D-ring looping it through, over and under, repeating what you did on the other side.
Be sure to tape the ends so that it doesn’t accidentally pierce the fingers of the person hanging the art.
Carefully clean the fingerprints that have gotten on the front side and you’re ready to hang!
There are many good videos on YouTube on how to frame a painting - here are a few:
