How To Choose A Mat Color For Art

A very common way to choose a mat color for your portrait or piece of art is to choose one that will help bring out the dominant color of the piece.

How to choose a mat color for art.

The wall color it will go on is sw mindful gray. You ll also be using your art to make proper measurements so it s extra important to have a clean work space. The dominant color is green present in different shades on practically all the surface. The secondary color is dark bluish gray found in the roof in the house front and on the road.

Colorful art often benefits from bright white matting which allows the art s color to be the focal point without competition. Blue maroon and brown. Our decor is mcm scandinavian natural. Most photographers and studios like to use white mats with black cores for their prints.

Wipe the space down with a damp cloth and then completely dry it. Below are some examples of this matting style. Choose a clean space for matting. As you re going to be using your mat board to display your artwork you don t want it to get covered in dirt and grime.

Burgundy mat a minor foreground color teal mat matching the shadowed waves. White mats great in almost every situation use a variation off white ivory ivory turret etc when pure white is brighter than your highlights if you re hanging a show go with white or an off white looks great when paired with black dominant b w artworks black mats great for accentuating highlights can diminish the shadows in your artwork looks great when paired with white dominant b w artworks for artworks that feature a lot of depth black mat boards help it jump off the page. If the color you choose is solid in the artwork and stretches to the edge therefore blending in with the mat consider a double mat with another darker secondary color as the bottom mat. Generally darker colors in the framing will help enhance a receding perspective in the composition.

If you mat with those background colors the artist s intended focal point will still draw the eye to it. Often the accent mat the narrow inner edge will be another strong color in the art. If an image has a strong element that is receding such as the river sweeping off into the distance in sisley s road to hampton court a darker mat perhaps one that ties into the dark green of the trees along the bank in the background helps to enhance it. Often the artist has some focal point that contrasts with the background colors.

The artwork is around 30. Then we found some third order colors. How do i choose a frame mat to best showcase this artwork. Generally the top mat will be darker on a dark work of art and lighter on a lighter work of art.

Photographs generally look best with off white matting. If you choose this method the eye of the viewer will be drawn to the art. With a piece that is dark you will want to go with a darker mat color for the top mat and vice versa. We prefer a more simple modern look but beyond that i don t know how to select colors or materials.

Black and white artwork benefits from black gray or silver matting. If you are looking to create a modern gallery like grouping use a mat that is at least 3 inches wide. Usually it is better for the mat to avoid selecting the dominant color of the art.