What to do next with your unstretched oil painting.

Thousands and thousands of oil paintings are sold on eBay each year.  Delivery "unstretched" and rolled in a tube.

Many of these perhaps stay rolled up in thier tube waiting the day when you have time do take the to a framer so that you can display the painting on your wall.

1) Have the painting traditionally "stretched"

Plus's

Great Value, Can be hung on your wall straight away, Canvas can be easily re-tensioned later in its life,

Minus's

Blank canvas will show on the sides

2 Have the painting gallery "stretched"

With this option, a bespoke stretcher frame is made from a pine moulding, the canvas is stretched around the wooden frame so that the painting will be shown on the sides. The stretcher frames are deeper than standard stretchers.

This style of stretching suits abstract and modern paintings very well.

Plus's

Ready to hang, save on the cost of framing.

Minus's

Does not suit all paintings, canvas can not be re-tensioned.

3. Have the painting bespoke Framed

Your painting will be stretched and framed in a picture moulding to suit your painting and decor.

There are differing qualities of moulding, the most cost effective being plastic, rising to hand finish silver & gold leaf mouldings.

Pre built frames can be a cost effective option and can be very good value.

You might consider adding a "slip" to your painting, these can include linen and wooden slips, they can significantly enchance a painting at a resonable cost. Pictured below is a painting framed with a white wooden slip.

Choosing a frame

Choosing a frame used to be very difficult, trying to image how the painting might look in a given frame. These days visulisation software can help you choose the right frame first time and aviod expensive mistakes.