How to Choose Mat Colors for your Pictures - Part 2

1. Single Mat Choices When choosing a single mat to go around your images you need to realize that people looking at the picture will have their eyes drawn to the most visually stimulating area – usually the area of the picture with the greatest color, contrast or dominant focal point. If you choose a mat that overshadows this area, then you will hurt the presentation of the picture – no matter how well the mat color matches your wall or furnishings. Therefore – if choosing a single mat – use a color that compliments the image, does not fight with the colors in the image – or overshadow them, and allows you to step back from the picture and still see your eye drawn in to the focal point. Great choices for single mats are often simple clean colors such as whites, creams, very light greens, blues and grays.

"Time Passages" image by Calen Darnell - Terra Art Photos

Want to practice matting for free? Try the MatoMatic framing tool at www.matshop.com. You can upload your own picture or choose from one of their gallery images and try different mats and mat combinations, frames and even background wall colors while you design your own projects.

Art Market Resources

Today I was pleased to see the feature that our company - Island Art Publishers - has received on the back cover and inside the 2008 resource book, "Artist's & Graphic Designer's Market". This is a book and website www.artists-market.com, that I have often recommended as it lists publishers and companies who are looking for or accepting submissions from artists for work ranging from creative for advertising to fine art publication.

Just reading through the publication is an education as it will highlight the current market situation by advising artists and graphic designers of what companies are looking for, what they expect in the way of submissions and often what they will pay. By visiting many of the listed company websites you will also find key resources and information on the market, where other artists are selling their work and how to approach and make contact with key industry professionals.