November 21, 2023
Over the last two weeks, I have continued 30 minute mark-making. But I also bought a new pad of 22x30 inch mixed media paper to experiment with bigger substrates. On November 1, I asked readers to finish this sentence: “If I were brave I would paint ____.” I answered this for myself and did not even have to think about it. The answer was, “If I were brave, I would paint bigger.”
Yesterday, I taped two pieces of 22x30 inch pieces of paper together to make a 44x30 inch substrate, which is only slightly bigger than my biggest size (36x36) which I am quite comfortable with right now.
I worked on my table, because I don’t have very much vertical wall space under the eaves. I would like to tape four pages together for the next one, which I will have to hang somehow - I am not going to let that be an obstacle.
With this big piece, I am also exploring a rectangle instead of a square, which maybe does not sound like a big deal, but for me it REALLY is. I would say 80% of the paintings I have made in the last two years are squares! Time to push my compositional skills!
When I paint on a square substrate, I rely very heavily on balancing the four quadrants of the picture plane. Perhaps when painting in a rectangle, I will think more about the rule of thirds, but then it becomes very tricky to not accidentally make an abstracted landscape. I am excited to spend the next couple months experimenting with going larger and painting in a rectangle.
If you wonder how painting large fits into my sketchbook practice, it is simple: I will take photos of these larger experiments on paper, and print them out to put in my sketchbook, along with annotated likes and dislikes of the work itself, but also of the process.
What are you trying to express with your work? How do your processes and materials support that expression? (I know, I know, this is a really big question)
Lay a big piece of paper on the floor - try for at least 5 feet long - (the back of an old roll of wrapping paper? A bunch of newspapers?) Make a long brush by taping a regular brush to a yardstick or long dowel. Paint standing up. Take a photo to put in your sketchbook. What do you like? What don’t you like? Why?
Where do you prefer to paint - The floor? A wall? An easel? A table? Please share where you like to work and why in the comments!