I've always loved painting big. But, I have to admit, there are several challenges to working large. Like...where the heck do you store those big canvases? Are you going to build them yourself or buy out the local Michaels on Black Friday? What subjects work on such a large surface? What gallery has the space to exhibit the finished paintings? How do you transport them? How to you frame them without spending a fortune? Who's going to buy something they can't take home in their Prius? I typically ignore all of these concerns and just go for it anyway. Today, however, I was able to make a little headway in the "go big or go home" department. I didn't actually find a solution to any of the mentioned issues, but I did find a way to make painting big even more fun...which might become a problem.
I don't think I've thrown away a tube of paint in five years. That might be a slight exaggeration, but not by much. I have a bad habit of using 90% of the tube and then throwing it a pile. I'll restock my paint supply and never use the last 10%. So...today, I squeezed the majority of my "almost empties" into some GladWare, emptied a couple bottles of linseed oil into my colors, and dropped them into a big, wooden, chevron-shaped box I built and attached to a folding table. I bet I squeezed a couple hundred tubes. My hands hurt. Now, I've got my entire palette sealed up like leftovers in the freezer, ready for those "I wonder what this would look like life-size" moments.
What's the big deal? Why not just squirt out more paint for bigger paintings? Well, the brush-size to palette-size to canvas-size ratio has become a real factor for me. I want to be able to block in a 5' x 5' painting in the same quick and loose fashion that I handle a 12" x 12". That means I need a bigger brush, bigger surface to mix paint, and more paint available to cover all of that canvas. There are some limitations, but this approach is certainly going to speed up and loosen up the beginnings of some larger paintings. Tonight, I was able to block in a 36" x 36" and a 30" x 40" in a matter of a few minutes. With the huge brush and 500+ml of paint available in all of my colors, I had a lot of fun literally slinging paint. We'll see what happens. Anyone have a vehicle capable of transporting a 10' picture that I can borrow in the near future?
