Halle
 

Oil on Linen 24" x 20"

Detail

A Lot of Frame
 

What a wonderful protrait - but I wonder about the choice of frame. The portrait is delicate, subtle, whimsical. That's a lot of frame. I am relatively inexperienced and frame selection is a big mystery... Why was that frame chosen for that piece?

Cynthia Kelly

In my opinion, the frame is merely meant to isolate a painting from its background. Hence the wide frame. Because the painting has a timeless look to it, I choose a generic and relatively "timeless" frame, with similar colors in it. In my view, a delicate frame would compete, not enhance, the delicate subject matter.

Karin,

I might add that a natural linen liner is helpful to make the transition from painting to frame. They don't add much to the framing cost and can be very effective.

For some reason or other, I dislike a linen liner on an oil painting and never use them...but they can be great on drawings!

I have that identical frame in my house x 3.

The problem I have with linen liners is that they are usually lighter than the lightest lights in the painting, and thus do not harmonize with the picture. Nothing in the frame should be lighter than the value range established withing the painting itself, or it will make the painting look darker.

Long ago, I would occasionally find a ready-made frame that looked good on one of my paintings, except for the linen liner. I would then paint the liner to harmonize with the color scheme of the painting, and it would work much better. The frame should not pull the viewer's eye away from the painting.