Obvious Advice (for the Oblivious)

I keep this painting around the studio to remind myself that some lessons are really painful.

This is a detail of an oil sketch I did many years ago. In those days I was a bit too "casual" with my work and set this painting on the floor next to my easel to dry.

One day I discovered that I had managed to splatter paint all over it - which was dry and could not be removed.

Still . . . I left this work on the floor until a week later - my full-time-dog and part-time-art-critic evidently mistook this piece for a fire hydrant.

Sarge (named after John Singet Sargent) never did that again - thank heavens.

So the point of this story is: Treat your work with the respect it deserves and don't leave it laying around where it can get damaged.

Some of My Favorite Ready-Made Frames

Every artist wants their work to look good. And here is a way to do it if you are on a budget.*

*"Budget" is a nicer word than "cheap and lazy" like, er . . . me.

I like a ready-made frame. I tend to paint on "standard size" canvas in order to fit my work into a ready-made frame.

Some standard sizes below:

I have gotten a lot of my frames from JFM.

The purpose of a frame is to visually separate the painting from the wall it is hanging on.

I like a wide gold frame - at least 4" wide to do this - just because I paint in a classical style.

Sometimes I choose a frame by placing my painting in a frame in Photoshop. I like to "try it on" before I buy if possible. Like this recent reject below:

I'll have to keep trying "Doris 'Granny D' Haddock" in frames until I find one I like....maybe something with a touch of silver perhaps?

There are many framers and frame companies - but fast, elegant and relatively inexpensive appeals to me.