Framed Oil Paintings
How Framed Oil Paintings Create An Impact
Most people assume that the framed oil paintings they are looking at have always looked like that. Very few people actually think about what the paintings would have looked like before they were framed. And yet, framing is such a key part in the process of putting a painting on display.
When a oil painting is being created on a piece of canvas, it is only seen by the artist's eyes. For the artist, especially the more original ones, painting a picture is very much a journey into their own imagination. Some would say it is a journey into the artist's soul.
For this reason, it is necessary that the canvas upon which the artist paints is unframed because there is always the chance that he may wish to go beyond the initial boundaries that his imagination takes him.
However, once the picture is completed and has captured that part of the story that the artist has sought to tell, it becomes necessary to display the painting in a way that holds the story still for a viewer. This is when the painting needs to be framed.
The framing of an oil painting serves a number of very important functions. Firstly, as mentioned above, it holds the artist's story long enough for the viewer to get a strong sense of it. While this may seem like a very subjective and elusive thing, it would be worth considering what a painting would look like without its frame. For one thing, it would look unfinished. There would be nothing wrong with this of course, if, in fact, the artist had intended to give you an unfinished story. However, in most cases, this is not likely the case.
When an artist wants you to look beyond the scene of a story that she has painted for you, she is more likely to do so with the expressions on her subjects' faces or through the use of perspective.
Besides this very important and often overlooked purpose of framing, oil paintings are framed for what may be considered more practical reasons. Framing protects the painting from the elements and from insects and other animals that may inadvertently land on it.
A frame also prevents the painting from merging in with the wall on which it is hung. Once again, such an effect would be quite undesirable, especially since, in most cases, the wall is not expected to be a part of the painting. Walls are generally considered bare spaces and can be rather bland and uninteresting. For this reason, the frame that holds the story of the painting on a wall has to be carefully and thoughtfully chosen.
Depending on the type of painting and the story that it tells, a frame will need to either complement it or accentuate it. It can do this through the use of a variety of materials, such as wood, glass or metal as well as a range of textures, patterns and colors.
When a oil painting goes on a wall, it brings a room or the space around it to life. Suddenly, there is something of interest and what might have been an uninteresting space now has a story to tell, thanks to the painting and its frame. This is exactly how framed oil paintings create an impact on the space they occupy.