Round 5: gallery wrap verses framing... Who will win??

In this round we will be going head to head with Gallery Wrap paintings verses Framing paintings. Now in this round this is only for Oils and Acrylics on canvas not any medium on paper such as watercolors, pen & ink, pencil, pastels.


Gallery wrapping is when the canvas wraps around the stretcher bars. For more info see Stretcher Bars verses Board. The painting wraps around and there is no need to frame. The no need to frame allows the painting to be ready to hang when you get home. It has less cost because framing is expensive. The painting also looks three dimensional. It is interesting because gallery wrapping appeals to a wider audience. It looks traditional because one still sees the artwork, it looks sleek and modern as well. This method of finishing a painting can work for many different uses. Gallery wrapping takes longer to paint in the studio and when my image wraps it is important to pay attention as an artist to the lines of the painting as well as the colors to make sure they wrap as well. All of a sudden painting on 2D becomes 3D and it takes a little more detail work to pull it off right.



Framing paintings are now not a must when one gallery wraps them instead. Now a painting can be gallery wrapped but you can also add a frame. The frames are really preference. The type of frame used does not really matter but it is more of a personal choice, look, style design, and statement for a room more than anything else. Framing can also be a regional preference. Growing up in Colorado wood frames are really the thing out there. The wood can be smooth, textured, stained, old barn wood, rugged but wood sold well. In Washington state (not DC) black frames with sharp edges especially metal sold well. In Cape Cod Massachusetts gold frames are all of the rage. They like small paintings in gold frames. Then in Florida during the show seasons gallery wrapped sold the best.

In this round the points for Gallery Wrapping go:
1 point for less cost, 1 point for 3D look, 1 point for wider audience

In this round the points for Framing are:
1 point for design style and look, 1 point for regional preference, 1 point for artistic statement.

So in this round they tie!
But as an artist I will continue to Gallery Wrap all of my paintings that way they are ready to hang on your wall when you get them. If you choose to frame them due to design style, look, regional preference or artistic statement then by all means please frame my art!!!

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