How to mix artist print styles on your walls

Welcome to my blog, I am a professional cartoonist, illustrator, artist and writer. My site here is intended to promote a range of works that I think will look good on the wall. Included on my site is not just my own work, but some works by other artists whose work I love and hope to bring to a wider audience. I hope you enjoy your tour of my site and welcome any feedback. Prints are fulfilled by The Print Space for prints on paper, they are one of the UK's premier fine art print companies, and there is also the option of buying some images printed on to canvas, these are fulfilled by Printumo. All prints are available worldwide. If you are wondering how to mix artist print styles, the short answer is to trust what catches your eye, then give those pictures a reason to sit together.

A good wall is rarely built by buying five things that look exactly alike. Matching frames and a tidy colour palette have their place, but too much coordination can make a room feel as though it has been arranged by committee. The more interesting walls have a bit of tension: a quiet charcoal drawing beside a bright photographic sign, a rural landscape opposite a graphic lino cut, or a black and white shed with a strong splash of colour nearby.

The aim is not to make every print agree. It is to make the differences feel deliberate.

Start with one print you really want to live with

Choose the picture that has already got under your skin. It might be a drawing of an old building, a Gloucestershire landscape, a photograph of a huge advertising sign in Los Angeles, or one of the new charcoal drawing images. This is the anchor. It does not need to be the largest piece, though it often helps if it has a strong presence.

Look at what gives it character. Is it the subject, the line, the scale, the colour, or the sense of weather and place? A print of corrugated iron and industrial metalwork might be almost monochrome, but still have plenty of visual energy in its textures and angles. A photograph of a painted wall or sign may have bolder colour, yet share the same interest in worn surfaces and human marks.

Once you know why the first print works for you, choosing the next one becomes easier. You are not hunting for a perfect match. You are looking for a useful companion.

How to mix artist print styles without making a mess

There are three simple things to consider: colour, weight and mood. You do not need all three to match. In fact, if two prints share just one of them, that is often enough.

A colour photograph of a Los Angeles sign can sit very well with a charcoal drawing if both have a strong graphic structure. A soft countryside scene can work beside a blunt, angular industrial building if they share the same muted greens, greys or rusty browns. The work may come from different places and processes, but the wall still feels connected.

Visual weight matters too. A large, dark image will naturally pull the eye more strongly than a small, pale one. Balance this by giving a heavy print some space, or pairing it with two smaller images rather than one timid neighbour. This is especially useful with black and white work. A charcoal drawing can hold a wall together beautifully, but it should not be surrounded by several equally dark pictures unless you want a more dramatic, close-hung effect.

Mood is the least measurable part, but often the most useful. Paul Davies Prints includes scenes inspired by the Gloucestershire countryside, old sheds, sites on the River Severn and industrial details that might otherwise be passed by. They have atmosphere: rain on metal, empty tracks, faded paint, a building holding its ground against the weather. These can sit naturally with urban photography because both are interested in place, age and the odd beauty of ordinary things.

Let the subjects talk to each other

Try building small conversations rather than arranging a wall by category. A photograph of a big Los Angeles advertising sign might sit above a drawing of a rural shed because both are about bold shapes against open space. A landscape and an industrial scene can work together when both have a horizon line or a similar sense of distance.

This is where mixing styles becomes more personal than choosing a ready-made set. The connection may only make sense to you, and that is perfectly fine. Perhaps you like old industrial buildings because of their patterns of corrugated iron, while the large signs of Los Angeles appeal for their oversized lettering and fading glamour. Put them together and you have a wall built around graphic surfaces and traces of use, not a wall built around one fashionable colour.

If the room is small or calm, keep the relationship subtle. Use two or three works with plenty of breathing room. In a hallway, stairwell or larger living space, you can be more adventurous and create a loose gallery arrangement. There is no rule that says every frame has to align. A little irregularity can make it feel collected over time rather than bought in one afternoon.

Use frame choices to bring variety into line

Frames are useful, but they should not do all the work. Putting every print in the same thin black frame is a safe way to make different styles relate, particularly if you enjoy a cleaner, graphic look. Natural wood can soften charcoal, rural scenes and muted photographs. White frames give drawings and detailed line work a little more air.

That said, identical frames are not compulsory. A black frame around a photographic image and a pale wood frame around a landscape can look better than a uniform row, provided there is some repeat elsewhere. Perhaps both have a generous off-white mount, or perhaps the images share a similar scale.

Canvas prints are a different proposition. They carry more physical presence and generally work best as a statement rather than as one item in a very tightly packed group. The Los Angeles sign images are particularly suited to canvas, as their large lettering, strong colour and photographic detail can take the bigger format. Let one lead, then support it with smaller paper prints nearby rather than trying to make every piece equally loud.

Mix processes, not just colours

A wall made entirely from photographs can look excellent. So can a wall of drawings. But a mixture of photography, painting, charcoal and printmaking often has more depth because each process catches light and holds detail differently.

Charcoal has a direct, physical quality. You can see the pressure of the hand, the rubbed areas and the sudden dark marks. Photography can give you a sharp record of a place: peeling paint, a battered sign, a sheet of metal, a distant field under a particular sky. A lino cut brings a flatter, more rhythmic graphic quality. When these sit together, they stop the wall becoming too polished.

New photographs and charcoal drawing images have recently been added, giving more options for this kind of mix. There are also exciting new works by Steve Parker, which bring another voice into the selection. Guest artists are not there simply to fill a category. They are included because the work has a point of view and deserves room on a wall alongside my own.

Give yourself permission to change your mind

The most successful print walls are not always finished. Move a picture from the bedroom to the hall. Swap a bright image for a quieter one when the season changes. Add a new piece when you find something that genuinely earns its place.

None of these works are limited editions, so the choice can stay pleasantly straightforward. Buy the image because you want to see it every day, not because a number is about to run out. Good printing matters, and so does the paper or canvas you choose, but the real test is simpler: stand back from the wall and see whether the pictures make the room feel more like yours.

Start with one image that you cannot ignore, then let the next print add contrast, company or a fresh angle. A wall with a bit of rough metal, a stretch of countryside, a lively sign and a well-observed drawing has plenty to say without shouting.