Saturday 7 February 2009

Proper paper proportions

Here's a strange bit of info I came across the other day. It relates to the most common proportions that are used in paintings. Did you know that when you buy paper, prepared canvases or ready made frames, they will be almost always in one of these ratios: 1:1, 1:2, 2:3, 3:4, 4:5 or 5:6?

Here's how it works out:
1:1 All squares
1:2 10" x 20" or 12" x 24" (about 25 x 50cm or 30 x 60cm)
2:3 20" x 30" or 24" x 36" (about 50 x 75cm or 60 x 90cm)
3:4 9" x 12", 12" x 16" or 18" x 24" (about 23 x 30cm, 30 x 40cm, 45 x 60cm)
4:5 8" x 10", 16" x 20" or 24" x 30" (about 20 x 25cm, 40 x 50cm, 60 x 75cm)
5:6 10" x 12" or 20" x 24" (about 25 x 30cm or 50 x 60cm)

Fascinating isn't it?

1 comment:

Robin said...

A bit unrelated, but just as interesting is trying to remember all of the proportions for electronic devices, such as monitors, PDA's, cell phones, iPods, etc.

However, I've always wondered about these painting proportions and what size paper I should use especially if I want to buy a ready-made frame.