Size Does Matter!

My plein art work lately has been done on boards of an unusual size: either 10 x 5 or 12 x 6.  This long vertical or horizontal shape makes me look harder for an interesting design when outside...and I was tiring of the standard 5 x 7 or 8 x 10 boards.  My thought was also that once I got into the studio I could do some larger work from my favorite pieces.  The format for blowing this up, so to speak, would be 24 x 12.  Or one would think....

Here's the River of Grass I previously shared done on location in the Everglades.  Something about the day and the colors made me want to paint it again, larger.  I purposely did not have the original in the same room...I was feeling more abstract when I approached the 24" high x 12" wide blank canvas and I hestitated to stifle any crazy urges that might come to light. 

Here's the larger piece, titled Graceful River of Grass, from the Everglades.  The fact that both of these are printing on the computer as the exact same size just does not do either of them justice.  It is hard to feel any impact from the size of the work and I, for one, believe that size does matter!  Sometimes when I enlarge something it loses its mystery and delicateness and likewise, in a very small piece it is hard to get the detail that some compositions call for.

Here's another example"

This piece in reality is a square format, 6" x 6".  It sold and someone recommended that I paint it again, much larger.  So I went to my old standby canvas of 24 x 12 and did it again:

Because it was a much more narrow format the composition had to change quite a bit.  Since the first one was much smaller it did not seem to need as much greenery in it...but this is really only obvious when you see the two pieces in their actual sizes.

I guess all this explanation comes as last week a friend asked me if I could repaint a small piece I had done but in a much larger size and shape.  The answer, of course, was yes AND no.  And maybe now you understand why.

Cindy

 

Surface Matters

The surface one paints upon, or the "support" as artists call it, matters...a lot!  Different surfaces receive the paint differently producing a different look and feel in the final product.  The surface matters again when you go to frame something: will it need glass? can it be hung without a frame?  This partly depends upon the surface.  I found another place where the "surface mattered" this week so I thought I'd share it.

Often a "study" is done of a piece in a small size sometimes as a practice piece before it gets painted in a larger format.  The study can be a way to work out color combinations, composition or just to become familiar with the shapes before enlarging them.  So I decided to play with a study of the Golden Gate bridge in a 12 x 9 size with acrylic paint.  I had done a much smaller one previously in pastel and it is fun to revisit the same subject in a different media.  Here is the work completed:

Golden Gate 12 x 9 acrylic on board

 

I knew that the larger size canvas I had, 24 x 12, was not the same ratio and thus some of the composition would need cropping; however I did not pay too much attention to the fact that the study was done on a board (a very hard surface) and that the second one would be done on canvas (a very bouncy surface). 

 

I used exactly the same kind of paint and a lot of the same colors but the brushes did not move the same way over the two different surfaces, many of the techniques were not transferable and the feel of the paint grabbing was very different.  Here's the larger painting:

 

Golden Gate Bridge acrylic on canvas 24 x 12 x 2

 

 

So it was really like painting a whole new piece except that I knew my subject matter.  If you look closely however you will notice that I did change the lighting a bit between the two.  Artist perogative!  Or maybe one was in a slightly different time of year and the sun rose slightly closer to the north??  Anyway, next time I do a serious study for an enlargement I will definitely remember to stick to the same surface for both executions.  And as long as I am illustrating the difference the surface makes, I will add that the top painting will need a frame (no glass) to be hung and the second one, due to a "gallery wrap" canvas, will not.  It is painted on the 2" edges all the way around and can be hung as is...or framed.

 

Hope this helps the next time you are looking at a piece, remember to ask about the surface or support used and how that affects your care of the piece.

 

 

 

P. S.  I am in the slow process of putting new work onto my web site for purchase and will let you know when it is updated.  Meanwhile feel free to contact me with any questions should you see something that you wish to own.