Glossary: How should I glaze my picture

We use 2 or 3mm float picture glass to glaze the vast majority of our paintings. This is the traditional method and the best. In certain circumstances, such as a room with intense sunlight or a delicate and valuable drawing, it may be necessary to use ultraviolet light filtering glass. This protects the painting or print from harmful UV rays and substantially reduces fading. Some people like to use non-reflective glass. This is not always a good idea, especially on watercolours with a mount, as the resulting gap causes diffusion and a blurring of the image. There are now some better products on the market that reduce diffusion, but they are very expensive and not 100% successful.

One new advance is Plexiglass, a material that combines the visual effects of normal glass but without the danger of breakage. It has taken over from perspex which had the disadvantage of being easily scratched and turning milky in sunlight, problems that plexiglass does not suffer from.