It has been a long time since I have painted big. For the last half-year I have been generally working on smaller works. Works under the seemingly perfect size for everyone: 18 x 24 inches. I enjoy working small as the materials last longer, but a smaller piece can be extremely intimate both to the audience and the artist. A fellow artist recently suggested to me to take my current work into a bigger size. Intrigued and encouraged, I immediately went out to purchase the wood and canvas to make my stretched substrate. Although time-consuming, I was reminded there is also intimacy in painting large. You are up close for details, but have to pull away to a distance to see the bigger picture. It’s a constant back and forth which develops a physical and emotional relationship with the work.
For this first large piece I decided on a polar bear silhouette. I am pretty obsessed with bears so it didn’t take long for me to decide on a polar bear. The polar bear is large mammal and a sort of ambassador if not poster child for the environmental movement. While working on this piece, I discovered I could get an infinite amount of drips for the background to create some beautiful textures. The large piece also allowed me to control the drips better and create nuances to reveal the layers of previous drips. This creates a perceived and physical depth. Depth to the piece and to the meaning.
See you next week!
featured artwork:
“Master of the Polarsphere”
acrylic on canvas
48 x 72 inches