Anyone agonize over having artwork just sitting in portfolios?

[Bronty]

I must admit I don't own much art (6 pieces total), but with every buy it was always for framing and hanging it on the wall. Reading the other posts I guess I must be one of the few, but I really can't imagine why I would want a piece of art and not hang it on my wall.

 

If you own a handful of originals going the framing route is a good option. When you own hundreds of originals the idea is totally impractical . . .

true. but why would you want hundreds of originals if you cant hang them on your wall for display ?

 

Is it so hard to imagine that others might enjoy owning art but not looking at it every day in the same way a comic collector enjoys owning books he does not read every day? Just step out of your own shoes for a minute and its not that hard to understand.

[Terry Doyle]

I must admit I don't own much art (6 pieces total), but with every buy it was always for framing and hanging it on the wall. Reading the other posts I guess I must be one of the few, but I really can't imagine why I would want a piece of art and not hang it on my wall.

 

If you own a handful of originals going the framing route is a good option. When you own hundreds of originals the idea is totally impractical . . .

true. but why would you want hundreds of originals if you cant hang them on your wall for display ?

 

Sorry, don't understand your logic.

 

I think you're operating on a different level to most people here.

[Terry Doyle]

I must admit I don't own much art (6 pieces total), but with every buy it was always for framing and hanging it on the wall. Reading the other posts I guess I must be one of the few, but I really can't imagine why I would want a piece of art and not hang it on my wall.

 

If you own a handful of originals going the framing route is a good option. When you own hundreds of originals the idea is totally impractical . . .

true. but why would you want hundreds of originals if you cant hang them on your wall for display ?

 

Sorry, don't understand your logic.

 

I think you're operating on a different level to most people here.

 

I frame art for decorative purposes. When I want to peruse my collection, I spend time looking through my collection (either pulling stuff out of filing cabinets or leafing through portfolios).

 

I mean I like steak dinners a lot, but it doesn't mean that I want to eat steak every day (if that analogy works for you?).

[Dick O.]

I don't personally like the look of art in frames (many times people hide the gutters/outside art area- which seeing those IMO is part of the attraction of OA).

 

Totally agree. If a piece has lots of activity in the borders, I Japanese-hinge mount it without mat and float the glass away from the art.

[BCarter27]

The Wife and I rotate our framed pieces. I feel leaving a piece up on the wall too long makes me immune to it. Rediscovering a previous great purchase in a portfolio while rearranging keeps things fresh for us.

[Terry Doyle]

The Wife and I rotate our framed pieces. I feel leaving a piece up on the wall too long makes me immune to it. Rediscovering a previous great purchase in a portfolio while rearranging keeps things fresh for us.

 

That's a very valid point and I totally agree. You can be ecstatic about having a newly-framed piece of art hung up on your wall but, after a while (once the novelty has worn off), it becomes more of a background feature in your home and you can go through your days with little more than the odd glance at what you're displaying.

[Terry Doyle]

I must admit I don't own much art (6 pieces total), but with every buy it was always for framing and hanging it on the wall. Reading the other posts I guess I must be one of the few, but I really can't imagine why I would want a piece of art and not hang it on my wall.

 

If you own a handful of originals going the framing route is a good option. When you own hundreds of originals the idea is totally impractical . . .

true. but why would you want hundreds of originals if you cant hang them on your wall for display ?

 

Is it so hard to imagine that others might enjoy owning art but not looking at it every day in the same way a comic collector enjoys owning books he does not read every day? Just step out of your own shoes for a minute and its not that hard to understand.

 

What Bronty said.

[JadeGiant]

I don't feel that it is really a question as much about agonizing over having art in portfolios, but rather agonizing over how your collection is kept. Meaning, do you keep it in a way that you can enjoy it to the maximum extent? Let's just be honest, ~98% of us art collectors keep art in portfolios. It isn't really practical to have everything on the wall unless you are relatively new to the hobby or you are downsizing/phasing out. Just this year I didn't feel that my collection was set up to enjoy as much as I would like so I went out and bought new portfolios and reorganized the collection so that everything is in a portfolio and organized how I wanted it to be. I also moved it from an out-of-the-way spot in my home into a room I spend time every day. Now that it is organized and right in front of me, I enjoy it much more frequently. I think many of us come to that "it needs to be on the wall" thought process at some point and many people get some framed up but from a practical sense - you just can't do it all. After some time I got past this and now I don't want to frame a large portion up. I think I will settle in with a couple frames to move art onto the wall on a rotational schedule (thinking of trying the frame-it-again-Sam frames). I also like the way Brian has his in a book shelf type setup - I may consider that. I think I always thought the prevailing notion in the hobby was that an impressive collection equated to a museum styled display/room. That doesn't work for me and, if this thread is any indication, maybe a lot of people are of the same mind. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE a well done art wall/room ... I just no longer feel that I need one myself. Now, time to pull the portfolios and give them a gander.

[eewwnuk]

Too much competition for wall space to have it all dedicated to comic art. Many of us are lucky to be able to get a couple of items on the wall.

[Brian Peck]

Being single you don't have to get permission on what to hang on the wall. I do have to balance what I put on the walls between comic art, rock art and pinups. When I moved into my place a few years ago I was able to organize which room diplyed what type of art and I am very particular on what goes on my limited wall space.

[batman_fan]

A big part of my agonizing over OA sitting in portfolios is I am thinking I would prefer to sell off stuff that just sits and fund a significant piece that would go on the wall.

[John E.]

A big part of my agonizing over OA sitting in portfolios is I am thinking I would prefer to sell off stuff that just sits and fund a significant piece that would go on the wall.

 

Just by looking at your CAF, you have a lot of wall worthy art that I can't imagine what you would sell.

 

I'm not one who agonizes over pages sitting in my portfolio, nor am I one who wants art on the wall, for the same reasons as stated on this thread, though I align myself a lot with what Bill C. wrote.

 

Sure, why not sell to upgrade? But if you're going to frame and hang, I'd follow the suggestion of an earlier post that stated that he and his wife like to rotate their pieces so the novelty doesn't run out. Because at some point, you were very proud of the pieces you're now willing to sell off. There's no telling which framed pieces will wear off their charm to the point that you'll consider selling those off, then you'll ask yourself, "Why did I spend $XXX to frame them when I could've used that framing money to buy Y." I write that from experience.

[batman_fan]

A big part of my agonizing over OA sitting in portfolios is I am thinking I would prefer to sell off stuff that just sits and fund a significant piece that would go on the wall.

 

Just by looking at your CAF, you have a lot of wall worthy art that I can't imagine what you would sell.

 

I'm not one who agonizes over pages sitting in my portfolio, nor am I one who wants art on the wall, for the same reasons as stated on this thread, though I align myself a lot with what Bill C. wrote.

 

Sure, why not sell to upgrade? But if you're going to frame and hang, I'd follow the suggestion of an earlier post that stated that he and his wife like to rotate their pieces so the novelty doesn't run out. Because at some point, you were very proud of the pieces you're now willing to sell off. There's no telling which framed pieces will wear off their charm to the point that you'll consider selling those off, then you'll ask yourself, "Why did I spend $XXX to frame them when I could've used that framing money to buy Y." I write that from experience.

 

I find the framing to be pretty cheap. I buy the raw items from American Frame and assemble myself. I have a framing kit so it takes all of 20 minutes to do and that way I can control how the art is handled and how it is mounted. I have room to do somewhere between 15 an 20 pieces on the wall. I am definitely one of the people that likes looking at the work when it is mounted on the wall.

[John E.]

A big part of my agonizing over OA sitting in portfolios is I am thinking I would prefer to sell off stuff that just sits and fund a significant piece that would go on the wall.

 

Just by looking at your CAF, you have a lot of wall worthy art that I can't imagine what you would sell.

 

I'm not one who agonizes over pages sitting in my portfolio, nor am I one who wants art on the wall, for the same reasons as stated on this thread, though I align myself a lot with what Bill C. wrote.

 

Sure, why not sell to upgrade? But if you're going to frame and hang, I'd follow the suggestion of an earlier post that stated that he and his wife like to rotate their pieces so the novelty doesn't run out. Because at some point, you were very proud of the pieces you're now willing to sell off. There's no telling which framed pieces will wear off their charm to the point that you'll consider selling those off, then you'll ask yourself, "Why did I spend $XXX to frame them when I could've used that framing money to buy Y." I write that from experience.

 

I find the framing to be pretty cheap. I buy the raw items from American Frame and assemble myself. I have a framing kit so it takes all of 20 minutes to do and that way I can control how the art is handled and how it is mounted. I have room to do somewhere between 15 an 20 pieces on the wall. I am definitely one of the people that likes looking at the work when it is mounted on the wall.

 

There you go. I don't know anything about DIY framing, but if it's cheap for you, and not a hassle to assemble and disassemble, I would--if I were you--frame everything you have and hang it up at some point, then determine which ones don't give you as much joy hanging on the wall and sell those. That's how I would pare down my collection if I had that option.

 

I'm making a huge assumption here, but I could see how that John Byrne Darkseid head-only page can sit boring in a portfolio, but I think it would look killer on a wall. I love the negative space and how the word balloons are a composition in of themselves. That letterer knew what he was doing. I do wonder how the writer, artist, and letterer collaborated to create the composition of that page.

[BCarter27]

One problem with framing pieces is that the art-with-frame has to go with the room. It is more of a decorative object like a mirror or piece of furniture.

 

In fact, one of the reasons we moved away from illustration art to comic art was because we COULD put it in portfolios. Every time a potential illustration acquisition came up for sale, we were agonizing over where, what frame, which room, or just in a gallery box.

 

Even comic art in a portfolio is much more accessible for us. In fact, we are doing a re-shuffling and organizing of recent purchases tonight... an event we look forward to.

 

That all being said, we did try to get a few more pieces up on the wall in our office with some DIY frames. Here were my notes on those I posted awhile back, if they are helpful --

 

 

We found these guys online-

http://www.wholesaleposterframes.com

 

10 Poster Frame

• Profile: D

• Color: Satin Black

• Cover: UV Clear Lens Cover

• Backing: Acid Free Foamcore

• Size: 13 x 19

 

We also looked at the Bags Unlimited 13x19 package which was very close in price and features-

https://www.bagsunlimited.com/c-200-frames.aspx

 

We added a piece of Gerber mylar just behind the poly that came with the frames. Then we floated each page in mylar stick-on corners on a second piece or Gerber mylar.

 

Lineco Mylar corners-

http://www.dickblick.com/products/lineco-archival-mounting-corners/

 

Gerber Item 1422L-

http://www.egerber.com/category.asp?CategoryID=450&SubcategoryID=560

 

Floating was necessary for the quick swap. Trying to mat each page would have been problematic with all of the subtle variations in size, cut edges, etc. And we went with 13x19 in case we want to swap in color convention prints at some point.

 

We cut half-inch strips of archival foamcore to create a thin spacer all around the edges. This goes between the two pieces of mylar, keeping the sandwich from pressing against the art.

 

The glare is a bit more than I would like, but I feel like we have decent UV protection as a trade-off. Also, we don't plan on leaving a set of pages up for too long.

 

The assembly was really easy. The only labor intensive steps were cutting the Gerber mylar to 13x19 sheets (at the local Kinkos paper cutter) and then cutting the 1/2" foamcore strips. Cutting the strips was a definite pain. You have to go slow and use a very sharp utility knife down a straight edge -- 10 frames x 4 sides = 40 strips!

 

 

[Silver Surfer]

A big part of my agonizing over OA sitting in portfolios is I am thinking I would prefer to sell off stuff that just sits and fund a significant piece that would go on the wall.

 

I had mutilple pieces for a certain run/artist but I kept the best pages and sold them off the rest to fund other larger purchases. I still miss most of those pages but I'm happy that I upgraded with more expensive and desirable pages.

[Hekla]

I have a variety of page sizes and thus a variety of portfolio sizes. The 11x17's and smaller are easy to handle, peruse thru, and store. I look at my 18x24 portfolio much less frequently, but tend to spend more time with each page.

[JadeGiant]

A big part of my agonizing over OA sitting in portfolios is I am thinking I would prefer to sell off stuff that just sits and fund a significant piece that would go on the wall.

 

Just by looking at your CAF, you have a lot of wall worthy art that I can't imagine what you would sell.

 

I'm not one who agonizes over pages sitting in my portfolio, nor am I one who wants art on the wall, for the same reasons as stated on this thread, though I align myself a lot with what Bill C. wrote.

 

Sure, why not sell to upgrade? But if you're going to frame and hang, I'd follow the suggestion of an earlier post that stated that he and his wife like to rotate their pieces so the novelty doesn't run out. Because at some point, you were very proud of the pieces you're now willing to sell off. There's no telling which framed pieces will wear off their charm to the point that you'll consider selling those off, then you'll ask yourself, "Why did I spend $XXX to frame them when I could've used that framing money to buy Y." I write that from experience.

 

I find the framing to be pretty cheap. I buy the raw items from American Frame and assemble myself. I have a framing kit so it takes all of 20 minutes to do and that way I can control how the art is handled and how it is mounted. I have room to do somewhere between 15 an 20 pieces on the wall. I am definitely one of the people that likes looking at the work when it is mounted on the wall.

 

The DIY framing idea is intriguing, do you have a link?

[Claudio]

Hopefully the glass has UV protection?

[Eric Seffinga]

The DIY framing idea is intriguing, do you have a link?

 

http://www.americanframe.com

 

There's also www.pictureframes.com and a couple others out there I am sure.

I do the same as Batman Fan, in that I put my frames together myself. Sometimes I cut the mats myself if they are smaller pieces. For the big stuff, I order the mats to size, and just take care of the glass and assembly.

Most of these places also offer UV plexi and acid free rag mats, but you want to be sure of what you are buying when you order.

 

I've received really crappy cheap frames with art that others have sent to me. I usually buy wood frames, even though mine are almost universally all in some form of black painted finish. I have used some really cool metal profiles before as well, but I can't stand that Nielsen #11 frame profile. Too many years of doing jobs for the U.S. Government totally turned me off of them. Heh! In truth they are 100% just fine, and I've seen some great clean display setups using them. But I can't bring myself to use them. Thought if I was starting my whole collection over from scratch, I'd be totally tempted. Large double thickness white top mat. Black Neilsen frames. So classic.

 

The nice thing about 75% of comic art originals, especially if one's display space is limited, is that they tend to run in pretty standard sizes when the artist uses the typical 11" x 17" boards (modern), etc. Meaning if one is so inclined, and does buy an easy to change out frame type, pieces can go in and out without too much hassle. I used to do that a long time ago, when I had way more Tim Sale Long Halloween art than I had frames for. I'd just pop the frames open every 6 months or so, and switch in different pages. Especially easy with mylar corners holding the pages to the acid free backer behind the mat.