MATTING 101

So, I had a big chunk of uninterupted time/freedom today and I utilised it! It is rare these days that I get to go into my studio and mess around. I am always expecting to hear that ....Mooooommmmmy, I can't ___________________(fill in the blank). It seems like it happens every five minutes or so. So as you could proabaly understand it is very difficult to maintain concentration. Oh yeah, Im straying from my point (see what happens).

I decided to clean up a bit. Of course that led me to many projects I did not imagine I would get into. One of which was matting old work and things I had claimed I would mat for others which were starting to collect dust. Its funny how that happens, when you set out to work on that really important porject, and fill you time with more mundane things. I do have to say though, I felt very accomplished when I was through and I was happy that my matting skills wern't completly gone.

After all was said and done, my oldest daughter came to see what was going on and claimed, "Wow, cool" when she saw how the painting that was given to her by my Aunt Ellen looked. It is pretty cool what a mat can do for a work. So with out too much futher ado......A matting lesson!


CHOOSING A MAT
I like to choose a color that can be found in the painting somewhere but is not the central color. I will sometimes choose a shade or two lighter or darker. You could always go with a black or a beige. It really depends on the work or what you have on hand.

MARK BORDERS
Once you ahve choosen a piece flip your mat board over and mark out the borders on two sides. I usually mark the left and bottom sides. When deciding on the width of the border you should consider the size of the artwork being matted. Keep the mat borders in proportion to the size of the work. Two inches is fairly standerd. I tend to like a wider mat. I think it gives the eye some calm space which allows the eye to stay focused on the work....but who am I to say....experiment and do as you like.

MEASURE YOUR ART WORK
Next you will measure the width and height of the piece to be matted. Then take of about a half an inch to an inch from those numbers to get the inside widow dimensions of the mat.
This way your work will overlap the edges of the window so you have some place to secure it.






MEASURE YOUR WINDOW
Now, from the left side border you already marked on the mat board, measure over the width of the art work (minus the half an inch or inch). Do this in two places, somewhere near the middle of your line so you get an accurate line. You have then created the right side of the 'window'. Repeat this process measuring from the bottom, using the height measurement of your art work, draw your ilne, and you will have your 'window'.

LAST EDGES
To finish your mat you need to measure out from the right window line the number of inches you have choosen for your border.
If you are making a two inch mat then you will measure two inches from the right side line. You do the same for the top of your mat and then you are ready to cut.

CUTTING
Once you have finished the 'marking up' you can cut. You can use a Xacto knife and a straight edge but if you are lucky enough to have a mat cutter then that is the way to go. It is much quicker and less stressfull. You can cut through the mat in one go rather then two or three. This eliminates much stripping away of matboard as you try to match up your cuts! But either way, the more practice you get the better :)

Now it is time to turn your mat over and tape your art work to the back. There are a varity of tapes out there but if I am just doing something that is not meant to last forever and will probably be redone at some point I just use some painters tape. And finito!








Happy matting everyone!