How to frame a canvas painting
To frame a painting on canvas, start with the stretch, then choose a floater frame, a traditional moulding or no frame at all. Most paintings on canvas are framed without glazing. Which frame is right depends on the painting and the wall it is going on, and it is easiest to settle with the canvas in front of you.
First, the stretch
A stretched canvas is only as good as its corners and its tension. We do that in house, a few steps from where it is framed. If yours arrives rolled, bring it in: whether it can be stretched depends on how much border was left around the image to wrap around the bars, so we look at it with you at the counter.
A floater frame
A floater frame surrounds the canvas with a narrow shadow gap instead of covering its edge, so the painting reads as an object sitting inside the frame rather than a picture behind one. The canvas is fixed from behind, the painted edges stay visible, and the whole surface is on show. The frame has to be deeper than the stretcher bars, or the canvas stands proud of it.
A traditional moulding
A traditional moulding covers the edge of the canvas the way a frame holds a print. Hundreds of corner samples sit on our moulding wall, pale pine, walnut, black, gilt and carved, and you choose standing next to the canvas the frame is going to hold. When no catalog carries the size or the finish, we custom mill the profile in our own wood shop and have it hand finished to your specifications.
No frame at all
A stretched canvas can hang exactly as it is, its edges showing. If that is the right answer for your painting, we will say so.
Does it need glass?
Usually not. Most paintings on canvas are framed without glazing, so the frame is the only thing between the painting and the room. If yours needs glazing for a reason, we talk it through at the counter with the canvas in front of us. A work on paper is different: it goes behind glazing, on acid-free mats, as our page on custom framing explains.
How large?
Larger than most shops take on. We design, create and build projects over 48 × 96 inches, and the floater frames we have built include four at 144 × 36 inches on inch-and-a-half stretcher bars. “Had a very large piece that was composed of 2 canvasses. Did a great job merging the 2,” Shannon W. of Long Beach wrote on Yelp.
What to bring, or send first
Bring the canvas to the counter at 1671 Placentia Avenue, Costa Mesa, Monday to Friday 10am to 5pm or Saturday 9am to 1pm. No appointment is required, and it is quoted in person once we have seen it. To start by phone, measurements and a photo help. Through the form, tell us about the piece and its measurements. If it is too big for the car, we can arrange pickup of large items to be framed, and deliver the finished piece in and around Orange County. Delivery is available for an additional charge and is quoted separately.
