I need a large art piece to sit behind my couch in my living room. I'm talking 3x5 feet, something big. I'm a college student so I think a sports related photo like a dunk or a touchdown would be coolest.
If I buy a picture like this from a local framing store it'd probably cost me at least a thousand dollars. And obviously I don't have money for that so I'm seeing if I could possibly do it myself.
I've made small picture frames like picrel before but it was a couple years ago, if I recall correctly the hardest part of making on from scratch is making sure the angles are correct or the frame will not be square. I don't know how much the glass, mat, and picture itself would cost though.
There are cheaper acrylic/aluminum frames on Amazon but most of them look like shit, I could probably spend 250 on a frame if it was a nice frame.
I have no experience printing either so I'd have to order the picture itself from china or a local print shop. The matting should be relatively easy.
Anyway what's your thoughts on this project anons
Get a 6pack, blank canvas and some acrylic paints and just go Jack Pollock with it.
3'×5' is a very large size to be framed with a mat and glass, and both the mat board and the glass would be considered oversize for normal picture framing suppliers. The mat board alone without any inside cut in that size is around $70-120.
Not unheard of or impossible to do, but definitely not cheap or easy even with pre- made frame moldings- glass that size is too heavy for typical frames to support without reinforcing wires or other structure to hold them together, or else the weight just tears them apart. One solution to that is using Plexiglas or Lexan but both are far more expensive than glass.
The cheapest way to do it would be to get a large print made on paper or canvas and then mount it on a lightweight panel or (for canvas) stretcher bars that are self supporting.
For that size stretcher bars that are 1 1/2" deep and don't need a frame, is around $90 pre- milled and cut. You could easily make a panel the same size from thin plywood or Masonite and cheap 1x stock for about half that.
Then if you must have a framed look you can attach moldings that are purely decorative.
The print itself can be had on paper for around $100 up, canvas with probably be 3-4 times that. Vinyl is another option that's somewhere in between, but more towards the paper end of the price scale.
This is just one example of the kind of place that makes them, shop around because prices are all over the place-
https://www.posterburner.com/
Don't just look for custom posters, search custom wall murals too, also many of those places have stock posters and large format murals for $100-$300-ish.
https://www.magicmurals.com/subject/
Whoops, try this link
https://www.magicmurals.com/subject.html
> 3'×5' is a very large size to be framed with a mat and glass, and both the mat board and the glass would be considered oversize for normal picture framing suppliers. The mat board alone without any inside cut in that size is around $70-120
Not a framer but can’t he just use white underlayment which is $20 a standard sheet, cut both a backing and a mat board and attach that that to a frame made out of oak
Yes, but there's really no reason to use a mat board if you don't have glass and they get easily damaged and warp without it.
If you want a wide border look, you can make a frame with a liner like in picrel...traditional ones are covered with fabric but they can be painted or stained wood or covered with almost any decorative material.
Instead of that bevel you can also finish off the inside edge with a thinner molding that framers call a fillet molding.
If you're handy you can make up pretty impressive large scale lightweight frames using stock profiles in combination, glued to thin doorskin plywood that creates the width.
Point of all of this is to ditch the glass and mat board unless the art absolutely needs them for archival protection, which is why they exist to begin with.
Picrel and the link show a few ways to make large/wide frames with stock moldings that are a tiny fraction of what the same thing at a frame shop would cost
https://www.lambertslately.com/how-to-make-a-diy-picture-frame
OP here, had to let this post marinate for a bit but I'm back now.
>3'x5' is a very large size to be framed
Yes, I'm aware that this is a very unique project. That's why it would cost me two thousand dollars to purchase it premade.
I think you may be overstating the weight of the glass, however, as it wouldn't be very thick and I've seen plenty of mirrors and pictures of this size that did not need any additional supports or wires to hold up the weight. Although frames of this size are less common, they still exist and are pretty popular. My parents have a couple paintings and pictures of this size in their house, for example.
I think using a canvas or stretching it across a frame would look weird, maybe I'm not visualizing your idea properly? I'd prefer to use glass if possible.
I may omit the mat, but if I do decide to use one I'd obviously try to do it myself.
I don't think it'll need to be detailed or fancy. I was planning on a very basic frame.
I have a friend who has welding capabilities and we may work together on an aluminum frame which could solve the stability issue.
>I think you may be overstating the weight of the glass, however, as it wouldn't be very thick and I've seen plenty of mirrors and pictures of this size that did not need any additional supports or wires to hold up the weight.
I worked as a picture framer and have made plenty of custom frames like this and assure you that it is astonishingly easy to underestimate the structural needs of wooden frames holding glass and mirror of that size; it's not just the weight that matters.
It's also very easy for amateurs to look at something and not know enough about the engineering involved to recognize the additional reinforcement that's been used to make an oversized piece look and hang like it's no different than any other picture frame. That includes up- sizing the glass thickness any time one open area dimension goes over 40", which *surprise* makes it significantly heavier and more potentially dangerous when the frame part fails anyway because you don't know wtf you are doing.
Good luck
Go back to redit
Go to Michaels or a hobby lobby and ask if they have any frames they have on clearance or were rejected/not picked up. I bought something like 50 poster frames with a green border for 5 dollars.
If you want it big AND cheap, you need to compromise on materials. You can mount the print on foamcore or plastic sheet and skip framing altogether, or take that mounted print and add a plexi sheet (polished) with edge clips if you really want a glass-like finish on a budget and not 1000lbs. Print the image with a good sized white margin (at least 2") and skip the matte board too. Go to a print shop and ask what their options are.
> I'm a college student
Then do what college students have done for years and throw up some fricking posters. And don’t say this is to lowbrow an option if you want a sports scene.
Richgay here. I bought a high resolution large format detailed contour map of Canyonlands National Park. It looked cool and it was high up on the wall of the visitor center gift shop, so it looked smaller up high. I framed that shit at Michaels and it was roughly 3'x5' and they charged me $750 with custom matte and a limited frame selection. Had to be acrylic because glass would be too fragile and heavy. Map looks fricking cool, very nice at eye level to crane your neck up and look at the North park and then stoop to look at the Southern end. Don't do this for a shitty large format print of sportsball. You can get a printed canvas from printique for cheaper and have it shipped to you. Not DIY but you'll use your time better.