How to size the paper for a painting that will be sold?
Probably a basic question for many, but it is currently like an itch in my brain so I'm putting it out there.
An acquaintance recently requested to buy this 8"x10" painting I did from a photograph I took in 2022. (Some yellow tones seem to be missing in what I am uploading, oh well...you get the idea.) It reminds her of her home area in Maine. It so happens that I had left wide margins and I can drop a mat on it to then match the outer dimensions of the paper to the mat. If I do so, the painting does not need to be attached to the mat in any way and will fit a standard frame.
That is all well and good for this paricular buyer. But now what?
--Should the paper for paintings be sized to fit mats according to their outer dimensions?
--Or is is just as acceptable to paint with just enough extra for edges to be hidden behind mats and then taped to the mat?
--If that is what I ought to do, is it best to hand off the painting secured to mat or just hand over the painting?
Thank you, anyone, for your input. Interest in buying what I am doing is rising, and I am unsure about this part of it. Before this I just matted and framed what I did as gifts.
Thank you Becky (and Trevor) for the confirmation of how my thoughts were working out! I have always planned enough extra painting to have a bit extra tucked under a standard mat size opening. But, I had wondered if it was good to leave a full mat-border width of extra paper around my painting so a mat could just lay on it and not present any framing issues to my "clientele" who are likely to just go buy a simple frame at the hobby store. So, from what you are saying, if that is my concern, or if I am going to offer paintings in a venue where mats and sleeves are to be used, I ought to go ahead and at least mount the paintings for ready framing or invest in simple frames myself and offer the package. That is what I wound up doing for my recent buyer--she confessed that if I could do that for her it would get on her wall faster. 😅 I just tacked on the cost of the frame to what we had agreed on price and she was happy.