Custom picture framing at Underglass in San Francisco is about making something you love feel at home on your wall. This signed print titled Starfish and Coral is a perfect example of that.
A bold black starfish against a warm textured orange and black undersea background. Intricate dot and line details that reward a closer look. The kind of piece that holds a summer feeling long after the season turns.
Starting with the frame
We always start with the art. This print has an organic, fluid underwater energy. So we looked for a frame that spoke the same language.
We chose a champagne gold frame with a wavy ripple texture. The parallel lines running across the face of the frame give it a fluid, organic quality. Up close it echoes the movement and theme of the print directly. It was an easy call.
The float mount and shadow line
We float mounted the print on white mat board. Float mounting means the full print is visible, edges and all. The piece sits slightly forward from the mat, creating a shadow line around it.
That shadow line is more than a detail. It gives the print depth and dimension. It makes the piece read as an object on your wall rather than just an image behind glass. The effect is subtle but it changes everything.
The shadowbox walls
Inside the frame we built quarter inch shadowbox walls. The walls are the same white as the mat board, so the interior reads as one seamless surface. Nothing competes with the print.
Shadowbox walls serve a practical purpose too. They keep the museum glass lifted away from the surface of the art. Nothing touches, nothing is permanently altered.
Museum glass protects from UV and makes you art look amazing
We finished the piece with museum glass. It blocks 99% of UV rays and cuts glare to virtually nothing. You see the print clearly from every angle and in any light.
For a signed print with this much color and detail, museum glass is not optional. It is what keeps the piece looking exactly like this for the years ahead.
The things worth framing properly
A summer print, a travel find, a signed work from an artist you discovered at a gallery or a fair – they hold a special place in our hearts. These are the things that deserve more than a standard frame from a shelf.
At Underglass we take the time to design around what you bring us. We are a neighborhood frame shop in the Castro and we have been doing this for over 40 years. If you have something that deserves a wall, come in and let us help you put it there.
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Underglass Custom Picture Framing · Castro District · San Francisco Custom design · Conservation framing · Open 7 days
