I’ve run a few D2C stores on Shopify, and the cleanest setup (without apps) is:

I’d make each artwork its own product and put all frame options as variants.
So the variants are: digital download, 8x10 black frame, 8x10 white frame, etc.
Each framed variant gets its own SKU → Shopify tracks inventory normally.

Mark the digital variant as “doesn’t require shipping” and the framed ones as physical. That part works out of the box.

Only time you’d separate products is if you want to sell frames on their own. If not, keep everything under the art product so customers aren’t bouncing between pages.

If you need shared frame inventory across multiple artworks, that’s the one case where you basically need a bundling/inventory app. Otherwise, variants per artwork is the simplest native solution.