Wholesale Matting

Matting!!! please help... what is matting art?

i have a little middle school art exhibit and i entered. last minute they tell me i got to "mat" it. can someone tell me what that is? and i think i know what it generally means, so i drew a landscape that is about 3 times the length of standard paper size. does using construction paper and glueing it to the back so that its more stable and has a border count as matting? i just want a simple mat, not fancy art exhibit stuff

Public Comments

1. Usually, if you were going to matt your art, you would get matt board from somewhere like hobby lobby and they can cut it to fit your piece for you for a fee - just bring your work with you or measure it before hand ( i would bring it though). If you're not worried about it being "professional" and you're sure the school doesn't have any regulations on what kind of matt board you can use, then you could just cut a piece of poster board to fit your piece. ( this may sound confusing, but it's really easy). You usually want to give yourself a few inches border - for the size you described probably 3 inches on the top and sides and 3 1/2 inches for the bottom would be just fine (you always want to make the bottom side a little wider). Then once you have the front piece cut, measure the outer length and width of it and cut a second piece for the back. Flip the front piece over and align the top of it with the top of the back and put some tape along the crease to hold the front and back poster board together. Now you will have two posterboards taped together as one. Open up the front side that you have cut the window out of and tape the picture to the backside of the front window and you're done. good luck + hope I helped!
2. Hi, Usually a work on paper is not glued but hinged. If we were talking about museum quality framing, we'd be talking about wheat starch and mulberry paper. Now, since this something simple, use a backing matboard/cardboard and glue the top of the paper to the cardboard. Don't apply to to all the paper and use an acid free glue. This way the paper hangs and doesn't curl. See if you can cut a mat (kind of cardboard frame) yourself since having one custom made is expensive for you. Usually works on paper are matted because they need to be framed under glass and the glass should not be agains't the paper. I work with soft pastel and my works are framed with a matt or I use spacers between the frame and the work. Good luck. Kind regards, Joséhttp://www.hushcolours.com