Our homes are deep reflections of us. As such, the items we collect through our lives and travels that are meaningful we want to display. The hardest part is, how do we display these items in a way that is beautiful and so that they don't get lost in the background. Perhaps your personal style is minimalist, in which case you want a very few select pieces to be out, or perhaps you're a maximalist and the more that is out on display the better, or maybe you're just dipping your toe into the art market. Either way, knowing some handy tips for purchasing and displaying your art is always a good thing!
Art can be found in just about any pricepoint. So long as you're willing to get out there and try to connect with the artists by heading to markets and art shows, or even just shop both new and second hand, you're very likely to find some pieces you love and want to bring home. I'm here to help you know what to look for. If there's one thing I love, its a good treasure hunt!
Without further ado:
1. THE COST OF ART FOR THE HOME:
A. ORIGINAL ART
It's always lovely to get original art for the home. Beginning artists typically charge one to two dollars a square inch. This translates to a 24"x36" running between $864 and $1726. Some artists adjust lower for the market they are in and artists with more experience will sell at a higher pricepoint. Artists need to charge enough to make a living off of, so it's important to bear in mind that most artists aren't selling more than a painting or two a month unless they've been met with some notoriety. On the buyers side, it's important to note that original art is a substantial investment.
Unless you deal in paintings regularly, you may not be familiar with the cost of entry to the art market. If you're gearing up to make your first purchase, it might feel like there's a bit of a mountain you're climbing in terms of not knowing what to purchase or even if there's a 'right' way to purchase art. It's an expensive purchase, and when you're investing that much money in something, you want to make sure you're choosing correctly.
There are a lot of perceptions out there that indicate that something has to be realistic to be good art, and for some people if that's what resonates, then it's true... its good art. What I would say truthfully is that any piece of art that resonates with you or evokes a strong emotional reaction, is a good piece of art. Never worry about what other people thing is good. People hated Van Gogh's art as a derivative of impressionism, but he's now one of the most influential artists of the last couple of centuries. Buying art should be a feeling. If you love something that much, you won't tire of it, an it'll feel like soul food every time you look at it. The decor will work its way around the perfect piece of art.
Some things to look for when you're purchasing art as follows: Oil and acrylic art generally the most pigmented and therefore are the most lightfast. Oil as a material is generally a higher cost to purchase for the artist than acrylic. Watercolours and pastels are generally the least lightfast and require special framing to keep it's colour.
If you don’t feel confident, there are so much many inexpensive options out there while you dip your toe into the market and figure out what makes your soul sing, leading up to that big art purchase.
B. PRINTS/PHOTOS
Prints are a far lower cost to entry. If you see an artists work that you really like, its worth asking if they have or would be willing to sell prints. Usually, if the work is not created digitally this is a fairly lengthy process requiring a professional photographer and corrected colours.
Unfortunately, prints have a limited colour printing capability, and sometimes the vibrancy and colour from the original can’t be captured in the same way as with paint, so be prepared for a slight difference here.
Prints are often made available in several different ways, usually the most inexpensive of which is usually a digital file. This leaves it up to the owner to decide how they want it to be printed. A lot of photo development places do not use lightfast inks, and so as a result the image’s colour may fade overtime, but as the owner of digital content, it could always be printed again. There are lots of options for print yourself options including print on canvas, photo paper or poster/presentation paper of various thicknesses. If you take it to a specialty printer, you may even be able to get it printed in giclee (ph. zhee-klay) which is the best quality ink you can get for prints. Some places even put swaths of paint on to give it more texture. You see these a lot more often now in bigger retailers. It give the essence of original painted art but without the price tag.
Alternatively, you can get prints directly from artists. Artists may run various prints of original artworks that sell well for them or better yet, they may do a run of limited prints. These are really good, because it means the artist will only make so many of them, and that leads to rarity. Rarity in the art world is very good always.
Also, don’t discount digital art as ‘not real’, I did this for years until I learned that good digital art is actually incredibly difficult to make and is a medium in and of itself. You must learn to wield a digital pen just like a paintbrush and good techniques is key!
Of course, an artists signature is always good, whether its on the piece directly or signed at the bottom or the back, ask your artist to sign it somewhere for you.
Family photos or photography are also generally subscribe to these rules, except photographers optimize their images for printing. Where artwork generally is made with vivid sometimes fluorescent colours that can’t be captured in printing ink, photos are captured and printed within a more print friendly range of colours and composition in these pieces are really the shining star.
The most difficult thing about digital media and prints these days is the authenticity of whether or not an artist actually made them. AI is becoming increasingly more prevalent in the art industry.
C. SCREEN PRINTING
Screen printing is an art form in itself, it involves the layering of screens over top of each other in different colours of ink to get a final finished piece. The result is some really interesting dimensionality and texture but because these items are often mass produced they’re generally less expensive.
Similarly, because they are screened by hand, they results of the prints are that they are not all the same so often each piece has its own uniqueness so there’s variety in the sameness of them. Similarly to regular prints, sometimes artists run these in limits.
Because of the use of artistic inks rather than printer friendly inks, you get more exciting and diverse colour ranges. Screen printing is also one of the best methods for printing on fabric. So if you’re looking to memorialize a special event or have a jersey printed, the screen printing is one of the best methods to do so. Often vinyl transfers are subject to peeling and disintegration that is less common in print screening methods.
Colour and composition both reign as king and queen here.
D. 3D ART
Art isn’t just limited to what is on the wall. Shelves, mantles, and display cabinets are often home to 3d collections of art like pottery, brass, sculptures, woodworking and glass items.
Many of these are also handmade and have prices they reflect this. Those $50 mugs may be imperfect but they’re also each uniquely crafted for you to take home. These imperfect and found pieces are often the backbone of styles we’ve come to love before they become diluted by the mass market. It’s important to note what designers originally saw and used as unique before a certain style was trending.
Again, anything you love could be the thing you take home, but check it for authenticity and then if you decide you don’t have the time to wait to find that perfect piece or can’t afford what you’re looking for, then look to the mass market for a substitute. So, if you find that old grocers sign at an antique shop, an old lantern by the dumpster, vintage brass at the thrift store or a wooden bird at a craft fair and it speaks to you, your story, your sense of personal style or your heritage… pick it up. It’ll make an interesting conversation piece and most importantly (regardless of value) if you like it, then it’s something special.
2. WHERE TO BUY
There are plenty of places to buy different varieties of art. The local farmers market, art centre or specialty craft and art fairs are great places to start. If you have trouble finding a place to purchase, you can always reach out to your local art council or community for directions.
Our city offers a really great show called ‘small works’ where the pieces of art are small enough that they are fairly inexpensive and that usually happens before Christmas. The pieces may not be at the right scale for your space (more on scale later), but they may make excellent pieces if they are framed and hung in spaces suitable to their size.
Alternatives are of course maker’s spaces online like Etsy (though Etsy is becoming saturated with overseas mass marketers).
Galleries are another option and a tricky affair, they are a great place to scope out art, and the art usually isn’t more expensive than buying direct from artist. Usually, gallery works are exclusive to the gallery until a certain period of time has passed and then they go back to the artist but if they sell they're still under contract with the gallery. It’s important to note that works sold in a gallery only have an agreed percentage of the sale go to the artist (usually about 50%). Some artists choose to be only gallery represented so they have greater notoriety and reach. Artists that sell privately don’t have as large a reach often, but they do have the benefit of receiving 100% of the profits. It’s lovely to support local artists if you can.
There’s always big box stores that usually licence artist's prints to sell so you can always go places like Walmart, Jysk, Ikea, & the TJ Max family of stores (Homesense, Winners, Marshalls, etc.). These are all great and affordable options for artwork that is sold at a reasonable price and the selections means you can find items to go with any decor style.
And lastly, don’t overlook second hand options, many great pieces can be found at your local thrift store, flea market, yard sales, online second hand marketplaces and antiques stores. Occasionally all that is needed is a frame upgrade and some new matting to make it new again.
Art is a great thing to pick up on vacation too, so if you're travelling see if there are any students painting in public who are looking to make a little bit of money. It can be a cherished momento for years to come.
3. SCALE
Scale goes hand in hand with positioning, but let’s start with scale. I find this is the hardest thing for people to understand when buying art. You don’t have to be a mathematician to figure it out really once you know what to eyeball for.
A collection of art (be it a single piece or a gallery wall) should take up approximately 50-66% of your horizontal wall space. That means when you measure your wall space available without openings. For example, if you have a 10’ wall space between two openings (in this case a window and a door). Your artwork(s) should fill about 5’ or 6’-4” of that overall wall width.
The height of the image will depend on a few things. If the image is mounted on a plain wall with no furniture, it should fit in the top 66% of the wall. you ideally wouldn’t want anything lower than 30-32” off the floor and I like to leave about a 2’ gap above a painting on an otherwise unadorned wall.
When you have furniture like a couch or a desk, at minimum I would say you want 6” above the surface of the desk and 6” above the painting/artwork itself. If you have it resting on a ledge (like a mantle for example) a minimum of 6” above.
All of these rules allow the painting to take up valuable space, but also allow the walls around the painting to breathe so that the art is showcased.
4. POSITIONING
So why fifty to sixty-six percent? Well the answer is about how your brain interprets the configuration. I think you could even break this rule in the right circumstance.
Fifty percent of the wall allows you to split the wall dimension left over in half. This creates a sense of symmetry on either side of the painting and creates a sense of balance. When you get closer to the two-thirds dimension, the rules of three start to factor in. Generally, the 66% can be arranged in some other more dynamic ways. You can still centre the image(s) on the wall and create that sense of symmetry, or you can move it off to one side to create a bit of tension.
The same can be true of a painting taking up a third of the space. Whether its centred or off to one side, the effect is the same. The wall will still largely look barren, but in a minimalist space on an unadorned wall it would be a shining star. This would be an instance where the half to two thirds rule would be broken.
Also gallery walls on stairs break this rule too, and its because the space is constantly changing in elevation, so you can never truly fill the wall visually from the top or the bottom floor, it’s always partial based on elevation, so you can really load the wall up. while adhering to the 30” off the ‘floor’ level rule.
5. ARRANGEMENT
Paintings, prints and photos can be hung many different ways and in sequences. The first place to start is with hanging height. We’ve already discussed some min/max options for placement within the wall, but I think it’s important to discuss what is most pleasing to the eye. It’s important I think to think about galleries and grocery stores believe it or not.
Grocery stores are paid to put brand name items at eye level. They are premium slots for a reason. Hanging art at eye level is a good rule of thumb, but what exactly is eye level? And what part of the painting goes there?
The average human is around 5’-5” and the top third of a piece of art should fit around that height. A lot of artists compose their paintings into thirds, so the odds that you’ll hit a focal point in that third.
If there are multiple pieces to one work of art (for example you purchased a diptych or a triptych) then all of the paintings should be hung at the same height, unless the artist advises otherwise.
If you are making a gallery wall then start with the most prized piece and build out around it. Gallery walls do well with a clear line of action or direction. Figure out how you want to lead the eye around the gallery wall and then arrange the artworks/photos along that line following the general rules. Possible shapes could be an arch, or a swirl. Either way a gallery wall can represent a great deal of movement.
Alternatively, you can do a straight alignment of pieces, and these can be aligned by top, centre or bottom of the work in any of the various sizes.
6. FRAMING
Well the first question about canvased pieces is to frame or not to frame. This is up to the owner ultimately. Many artists offer framing options, but there are plenty of after market framers that you can take your new piece of art to and have a custom frame put on. This adds cost to the art, but provides a finished quality to them too.
If you choose to make hang the art without framing, ask your artist to finish the edges of the painting. Often your artist will do this anyway, its good practice, but if they’re new to selling art professionally, it’s worth asking. Otherwise, you can always get a paint roller and finish the edges black so the raw edge doesn’t take away from the overall look of the piece.
Some people like to have all their frames match and that creates a sense of cohesion. You can certainly have them not match in style but match in colour, or vice versa and that gives things a sense of cohesion too. Or you can have the frames be all different in style and colour, this creates a collected and eclectic look. All of these things depend on your sense of personal style and the direction you wish to go.
Framing usually does add additional cost to purchasing your piece, and your artist may ask how you would like it framed. Some use what they call a floating frame style. This is typically a more contemporary looks. There is usually a 1/8” gap all around the canvas and the frame encloses it on the other side. There are also traditional framing options.
If you’ve purchased a canvas piece of art, it should ideally not be placed in a glass frame. Sometimes the paint off the painting will either smudge or come off on the glass, most specifically if it’s oil, but it can happen with acrylic too given the right conditions.
A canvas that is trapped in a glass frame and also exposed to moisture of any kind is also prone to developing sweat and then mould and it can ruin your very expensive new piece of art.
Water colours and prints however, are best behind UV glass.
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