The Definitive guide to Properly Sizing your Equine Portraits.

Creating wall art from your equestrian portrait session is a great way to not only showcase your horse and rider but add beautifully framed Wall Art to your home decor. There are so many decisions to be made during the post-consultation session. What size should your finished wall art be? what type of paper? framing? do you develop a gallery of prints for your wall? How high do I hang my framed Equine Portrait? This definitive guide will help with some of these decisions.

Artwork hung over a fireplace looks best when it is the width of the fireplace not the width of the mantel.

Face Size: for an average size room with a viewing distance of 8-10 feet a face height of 6 inches is desirable.

How to determine the size of your framed horse and rider portrait be when it is going to be installed over a couch. Start by measuring the width of the sofa. For a square or landscape-oriented portrait, it should be at least 50-70% of your sofa width. For example, a couch measuring 80 inches, the correct size of your equine portrait should be a minimum of 40 inches. Bigger is always better than going smaller. The framed portrait should be hung at least 6-9 inches above your furniture.

When hanging a group of portraits together follow the same rule of 70%with  2-3 inches between each portrait. For example the same 8o inch couch 2-3 20 inch wide art pieces hanging over the couch.

How high do I hang my Equestrian Portrait? The recommended guidelines suggest the center of your portrait should be about 58-60 above the floor. Art Galleries around the world use this number as a standard for all installations.

What do you do with a blank wall with no furniture on it? The 3/8ths rule is a good starting point. Measure the wall length. For example, a 10- foot long wall equates to a minimum size of 44 inches wide ( 120 inches x .37= 44 inches). Multiple Wall Portraits hung on the same wall will follow the same ratio of .37. The total of your pieces should equal .37 times the wall length.

7 tips for creating a Gallery Of Framed Portraits:

  1) Develop a color scheme with a specific color palette. Try to complement the colors of your artwork within the space it will hang in.

2)  Create a story with your gallery wall. Add old pieces to your new portraits to create a sense of history.

3)  Your frames should highlight your artwork. For a clean modern look, frames in the same color and style will work well.

4) For a less formal look hang pieces to the left or right of center when developing your wall gallery.

5)  Make A Statement. Creating a wall gallery is the perfect opportunity to showcase the beauty of your Horses.

6) Think about placement when creating a Gallery. Lay it out on the floor at the base of the wall you plan to hang it on. Don’t be shy to move pieces around to find the perfect combination. Take an I phone photo of it before hanging.

7) And most importantly have fun with creating Galleries for your wall.

Sample sizes of Wall Art over different pieces of Furniture.

Over a bed:

Twin: 22-30 inches

Full: 30-41 inches

Queen: 34-45 inches

King: 43-57 inches

Dining Room Table:

78-inch table: 44-59 inches

60-inch table: 34-45 inches

48-inch table: 27-36 inches

Living Room Couch:

96”: 54-72 inches

84”: 47-66 inches

72”: 41-54 inches

These are recommended width sizes of a single framed portrait based on the above formula.

As part of ChromePie Photography’s goal to provide you with beautiful portraits of your horse and riders, we will guide you through the proper sizing of your portraits for your home. We will help measure, deliver and, install your completed Equestrian Portraits. In our next post we will dive into what papers we use for Printing and the archives steps we take to ensure your prints last a lifetime.