Many artists prefer to tape the edges of their paintings to make clean, crisp lines (Video 1).
Step-by-step instructions
- Measure the border that you want for the painting and mark it off using an H, F, or HB drawing pencil and a ruler. Be sure to make perfectly parallel and perpendicular lines that form square corners. Leave at least an inch of paper beyond the border on the top, left, and right sides of the painting. Leave at least 2 inches of paper beyond the border of the painting if you intend to sign it below the border at the bottom.
- Cut four pieces of artist tape into strips long enough to overlap by 0.5 to 1 inch at each corner.
- Tape each side by following the pencil lines as closely as possible.
- Make sure that there are no bubbles in the tape and that the edges are firmly taped down. You don’t want paint to get up under the tape, so run a fingernail down the edge of the tape as an extra precaution.