What Are Plein Air Frames? A Simple, Flat-Section Frame for Panels

A plein air frame is a simple, elegant frame with a flat section running through its face, made to frame a painting without competing with it. Traditional colors — mostly blacks, golds and silvers. Very little ornate detail. Usually two to three inches wide, so it never overpowers the piece. And a shallow rabbet at the back, because the artwork it was drawn for is a thin panel, not a deep stretched canvas. The name comes from landscape and nature painting, and that is still most of what these frames go around, but the style itself is not limited to it.

That is the short answer. The rest of this page is the long one: where the name came from, what actually separates a plein air frame from any other traditional frame, how it compares with a floater when the thing in your hands is a quarter-inch oil panel, the difference between a lip and a liner, what sizes these get ordered in, and why so many of them end up in the back of a car on the way to a show. When you want to stop reading and start looking, the full range we carry is on plein air frames.

Worth saying up front: this is artists' vocabulary. Painters ask us for a plein air frame by name and know what they are asking for. Plein air terminology comes a lot from artists themselves, and it is not a common term for the average customer — plenty of people who would love the style have never heard it called that.

Where the name comes from

Plein air painting is painting outdoors, in front of the subject. The frame took its name straight from the work: originally, a plein air frame meant a frame intended to frame nature or landscape paintings. That origin explains nearly every design decision in the profile.

Artwork of the outdoors does better in a frame that stays out of the way, so the profile stays simple, the finish stays traditional, and the width stays modest. Nothing about the frame is asking to be looked at. The whole purpose is to enhance the artwork and draw the eye to it.

The name also explains the size habit. You do not carry enormous panels out to a field, so plein air work tends to be smaller, and plein air frames are not typically seen in very large sizes. A lot of the time a plein air frame is not used on a super large piece at all, because on something that big the frame would get lost.

What makes a frame a plein air frame rather than just a frame

Style, finish and size. That combination is what makes it a plein air frame, and the size belongs in the list just as much as the other two, because a plein air frame is not super wide.

• A flat section in the face. Typically there is a flat run in the frame sitting between the inner lip and the outer lip. That flat section is the signature of the style and the first thing to look for on a profile.
• Not overly ornamental. There is not a lot of ornate detail anywhere on it. Ornate detail pulls the eye onto the frame, which is the opposite of the job.
• Subtle, traditional color. Mostly blacks, golds and silvers. Sometimes a contrast between the body of the frame and the lip — a black frame with a gold lip is the classic version. The goal of the color is focusing the eye on the artwork rather than on the frame.
• Modest width. Usually two to three inches, and often just a couple of inches. Wide enough to finish the piece, not wide enough to overpower it.

What that adds up to

Simple but elegant. The piece still looks polished and properly framed, and the frame does not distract you from the item being framed. That is the entire job the style was drawn for, and it is why painters keep coming back to it.

Plein air, traditional or floater for a small oil panel

This is the practical comparison, so here it is directly. Assume a small oil panel is about a quarter to a half inch deep, because that is what a panel usually is — it is not a super thick depth.

Not a floater. Floater frames need some depth to work. You want the panel to sit at least up to the front of the face of the floater, and a quarter-inch panel in a floater cannot get there on its own. So for a thin panel, a plein air frame or a traditional frame is the better option, and that is not a close call.

Plein air is a very good option. It draws the eye to the artwork itself. It is simple but elegant, so the panel still looks polished and framed, in a simple style.

A traditional frame also works, with a caveat. If you go traditional and you go larger and super ornate, that can distract from the artwork. Whether it does depends on the style of the oil panel and on your personal style — an ornate frame is a legitimate choice, it is just a choice you are making on purpose rather than a safe default.

So the short version: thin panel, plein air or traditional. Deep stretched canvas, look at a floater instead. If you want the longer comparison, read floater frame vs traditional frame, and if you have landed on the other side of that line, start with floater frames.

What plein air painters paint on, and why the rabbet is shallow

A lot of the time plein air painters are working on some sort of panel, a linen board, or a canvas of some sort, and those substrates are typically more shallow than a gallery-wrapped canvas or an inch-and-a-half canvas. The frame has to suit that.

A plein air frame is a traditional frame, which means the artwork is installed from the backside. The rabbet — the recess at the back of the frame that the artwork sits into — usually fully encompasses the panel, the board or the canvas panel, and it typically has a pretty shallow depth, usually about a half inch or larger. Panels work well in a plein air frame and install from the backside very easily.

Where the line is

When you get to the larger depths — 1-1/2" or 2" of canvas — that is when you really have to consider more of a floater. Plein air frames do not typically offer that kind of depth, because the artwork they were drawn for does not need it. For those pieces, start with canvas frames, and how to match canvas depth to a floater frame walks through the measurement in full.

A lip and a liner are two different things

These two words get used interchangeably and they are not interchangeable at all, so it is worth being precise about them before you order anything.

The lip is part of the actual frame itself — the raised inner edge closest to the artwork. On a plein air frame the lip is often where the contrast lives. A lot of the time the main part of the frame is black and the inner lip closest to the artwork is a different color: black with a gold lip, or black with a silver lip. Sometimes the outer and inner edges are both gold and the flat section in between is a dark brown. That contrast is complementary to the type of artwork these frames are built for. Whatever the combination, the lip is not a separate purchase. It is the moulding.

A liner is an additional frame that the outer frame is stacked upon. It has to be ordered separately, because it is a second item, not an option on the frame. Typically it is a linen liner: a piece of wood wrapped in true linen. It is used as an extra element, an additional dimension between the artwork and the outer frame.

Two consequences of that. A liner's full purpose is to be framed, so you cannot use a linen liner by itself — if you order only a liner, you do not have a finished frame. And if you want a liner with a plein air frame, you are ordering two things: the liner, and the outer finished frame that stacks on top of it. If that is what you are after and you are not sure how to order the pair, send us the sizes or call 727-572-4064 and we will work it out with you.

Sizes: a range, not a fixed list

Plein air frames, and plein air artwork generally, run to more traditional and slightly smaller sizes. You do not really see super large sizes. A lot of the time they are smaller pieces: 6x8, 8x10, 11x14, and possibly up to 16x20 at the larger end.

Treat those as the range people usually land in, not as the list of what is available. We sell a wide variety, standard or custom, and we can cut a plein air frame to any size you need — any standard traditional size, or whatever size actually fits the artwork you are framing. If your panel does not land on one of those numbers, give us the measurement you really have.

Traveling to shows and competitions

Plein air frames get used often by artists traveling to frame shows and competitions, especially when the artwork has to do with nature or the outdoors, and sometimes for specific plein air events. The reasons are the same features that define the style: they are known for being very durable and a little bit easier to travel with, since they are typically a smaller size, not super large and not super ornamental. A lighter, durable frame that can be traveled around is a different proposition from a wide ornate one.

We service a lot of artists who take our frames to shows and competitions. If you are framing for one and you are working to a date, call 727-572-4064 and tell us when you need it — that is a much better conversation to have before you order than after.

The questions painters ask that other customers never do

Artists and painters ask about specifics: the way the frame is manufactured, the types of wood, the rabbet depth. A general customer is usually trying to find something that looks good, and that is a completely reasonable thing to want.

If you are in the first group, those answers change from profile to profile, so we would rather give them to you against the exact moulding you are looking at than generalize here and be wrong about your one. Call 727-572-4064 or send us the moulding number and ask. That is what the phone is for.

Three plein air frames worth looking at

We carry more than three, and the whole range is on plein air frames. But if you want to understand the style by looking at it rather than reading about it, these three are very traditional and good examples of what a plein air frame is. Availability moves around, so check the product page of the one you want.

• 1217 Classic Black and Gold Plein Air Frame — the black and gold option, and the one to look at first if you want to see the contrast between the body of the frame and the lip. This is the frame most people are picturing when they say plein air.
• 1289 Classic Silver (Champagne) — the champagne one. The live title says silver, and champagne is exactly why it is here: it lends itself to artwork that could lean either gold or silver, so it complements a lot of different pieces.
• 822 - 2" Brushed Gold Plein Air Frame — the solid gold one. One finish, no contrasting lip, when gold on its own is what the piece wants.

Do not let the name limit you

This is the part worth taking away. Plein air frames were typically named for, and used to frame, nature or landscape art. That does not mean they can only be used for a certain type of artwork. It does not have to be an oil painting, and it does not have to be a landscape or a nature setting. People use them for photographs, because of the simple elegance, and for plenty else besides.

If you like the style, use it. It is a very simple, elegant frame that makes something look very polished without distracting you from the item being framed — and that is useful on almost anything.

Ready to look, or still deciding?

Start with plein air frames for the full range and for the shopping side of this. If you are stuck between a plein air frame and a floater, the deciding factor is the depth of what you are framing, and floater frame vs traditional frame covers it. Anything else, the FAQ is a good first stop, or send us the details of your piece or call 727-572-4064.

Related

• Plein air frames
• Floater frames
• Canvas frames, for a deeper stretched canvas
• How to match canvas depth to a floater frame
• Floater frame vs traditional frame
• Frequently asked questions