As a general rule i tell customers that black and white photographs floral art and artwork with heavy or bright saturated colors tend to look best with bright to neutral white mat boards.
Mat colors for water photos.
Instead add a linen liner to create the same transition from art to frame that mats do for pictures on paper.
In general using the dominant colors of the art in the mat draws the eye to the art rather than to the framing.
Mats are great with photos posters fine art prints diplomas or watercolors.
Take it from us.
It is essential that the mat does not distract from the photograph but rather accentuates it and draws out the main focus or key element.
Linen liners can be added to any linen liner compatible frame and to 3 4 framed stretched canvas.
If the piece has a focal point and there are background colors you can.
Color can work very nicely with a watercolor.
A mat of a neutral gray color keeps the image flat.
Often the artist has some focal point that contrasts with the background colors.
Choosing a mat color.
If you mat with those background colors the artist s intended focal point will still draw the eye to it.
But with so many colors to choose from it can be confusing to figure out what you want.
You re able to express your creativity find color combinations that ll make your art jump off the wall and when you finally see it all come together the final product can t help but put a smile on your face.
Picking your mat board colors is really fun.
This is another frequent question from our customers.
My advice is to choose color wisely.
A very common way to choose a mat color for your portrait or piece of art is to choose one that will help bring out the dominant color of the piece.
Rag mats are considered museum quality and being made from 100 cotton these mats do not require treatment to neutralize the ph.
Lighter colors in the matting help to pop a composition that has bold elements in the foreground such as roy lichtenstein s blam which looks suitably dramatic in a stark white over a black mat.
If you choose this method the eye of the viewer will be drawn to the art.
As long as the mat color is borrowed from one of the secondary or tertiary colors in the artwork a color mat can work well.
Choosing a mat color based on dominant colors.
Lighter colors add depth to a picture visually pushing the art work away from the viewer while a dark mat pushes a photo forward.
Go for tones that are either dominant in the image or that draw out subtle colors in the piece a color that seems to bring it all together.
Which color of white mat board is right for my art.
I ve matted watercolors with colored mats for people and myself with beautiful results.
These colors do not distract the viewer s eye from the photo but help to visually separate the image from its frame and the background.
Consider a pale forest green for a barn in front of a out of focus forest or light blue to complement the distant sky of a cityscape.
Using the dominant colors in the art.