How To Prepare A Painting For Hanging (Because The Artist Forgot To)

October 11, 2008 in So You Want To Get Technical
Tags: Adam J Smith, Adam Smith, Art, Hang Art, Painting, Prepare Art, Smithmada

Say an artist forgets to prep a painting for hanging… and ships the painting to a customer… leaving the customer to prep the painting on their your own…. I know, hard to believe, but let’s just say it happened… Hell, let’s say I did it… just for shits and giggles…. I know, you’re thinking, come on Adam… don’t be so hard on yourself… you’d never ship a painting without the proper hanging device.  Let’s just say I did. Now, what the fuck are you gonna do about it?  I’ll tell you what I would do…. If i had done it in the first place….

First, find the appropriate tools and hardware for the size of the painting…  I’m gonna do a small piece… so I’m gonna want some small eye screws… but not too small… someone may question your manhood.

These eye screws are in inches. If you're from a country other than the USA... you might be using a more precise measuring system.

Now, you’ll need some good braided wire…. I find the single strand get’s brittle and breaks over time.

Willie Nelson likes it braided... then so do I.

Ok.  You have the hardware… Now you’ll need your, one and only, tool… But which one could it be?

Which one... Which one... Which one...

No… not the Ipod.  For the screwing of the eye screws I prefer a needle nose pliers… or a Leatherman, in my case…

Oh, Leatherman, what can't you do?

Let’s get this done already.

Before you start, though… make sure the painting is secure… with the face of the painting on a soft surface… like your lap / pant legs.. or a soft flat towel, with few fibers… Now, take your needle nose pliers and grab the eye screw by the eye… and go 1/3 of the way down the inside of the painting’s mount… or frame… press the screw end into the the center of the inside of the mount… (not the outside of the mount, or the back of the mount… people will laugh at you).  The wood may be hard… it may be soft… the key is to press as straight as possible into the wood… creating a indentation hole…

Now, use the hole as a sticking point, and begin screwing the screw by turning the pliers…. the straighter the turn, the more likely the screw will screw into the wood… if you change the angle… it’s not going to screw in as easily….

So turn that shit straight, yo.

Make sure the eye screw isn't too long, or too big for the painting... it will either screw to deep into the mount and poke through, or the eye will be too large to fit the back. But, make sure it isn't too smaller, either... you want it to hold up the piece it's being utilized on...

Now, do the other side… 1/3 down, like the first one…

Next, take your braided wire (preferably)… and measure it out so there is some extra to secure the ends with… and enough to leave a slight sag in the middle of the wire…the wire shouldn’t simply go straight across… the sag helps it hang more securely… (I don’t really know that to be true… It’s just what i’ve learned to do.)

The wire...

The rabbit goes through the hole...

Spin the wire back onto itself two secure both sides.

And now, finally, you are well hung.

This concludes our class on prepping a painting for hanging.  I hope you’ve enjoyed our time together…  Please, come back next week… I will teach you how to paint a prettier cloud.