Framed

Bartc

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Gray Whale Cove framed. I chose a mat that matched the Sienna PastelMat almost exactly with a bit more saturation. Not my usual color, but since Sienna is my almost go-to favorite to work off of as an underpainting, I figured it would work. I did some testing of mat colors in Photoshop and found this still worked best. See what you think.
Gray Whale Cover framed.jpg
 
It is your painting and I don't want to be presumptuous, so I am a bit nervous to suggest something. Nevertheless, my thought is that the mat is too overpowering. Here it is at a lower value, which you may not like. It was a quick edit, so a bit uneven, but you get the idea.

Gray Whale Cover framed 2.jpg
 
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No thanks. I chose the color to match the PastelMat substrate color. That color acts as my underpainting and informs the colors of the painting. In fact it is echoed in the painting and even shows in places where I didn't over paint. For me that brings vibrance to the overall effect. It also complements the stronger blues. To each his own.
 
It is your painting and I don't want to be presumptuous, so I am a bit nervous to suggest something. Nevertheless, my thought is that the mat is too overpowering. Here it is at a lower value, which you may not like. It was a quick edit, so a bit uneven, but you get the idea.

View attachment 45382
Part of why you see it as overwhelming is that my photo as posted is a little darker and oversaturated, so the mat color is not quite true to life. I would have preferred a color that was a little less saturated as you do suggest, but that wasn't available. I didn't like the effect of a mat color lighter than the painting and tried (on Photoshop) other hues and values, but nothing worked as well as what I chose in the end.
 
I know, I have experienced problems with colour accuracy when posting as well. Thankfully, I have now found a work flow that solves the issues with colour rendition in my posts.
 
I also prefer the reddish mat. There's the color contrast (red-blue), but not so much tonal contrast as seen with the whitish and blue.
That's my opinion, and I'm sticking with it! Until I don't! 😉
 
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