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Lara Virginia

9 Years Ago

New Canvas

The delivery man has just arrived bearing my 2 new canvasses...one for a new commission and one for a painting of my own I have planned for the new year. When I was with the client and we were measuring up his wall and gauging what would fit, 48" x 36" seem quite a modest size...who was I kidding, its bloody huge!!! I'm excited and terrified all at once..it will sit on the floor, propped against the dresser for a day or two whilst I try to compose myself and then I'll cover it with a Van Dyke brown wash and begin. I'd be interested to hear how others deal, technically and emotionally, with starting a new piece...

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Very,very brave of you,Lara....it IS huge.....all the better to fulfill with your aptitude and prowess. The agreed subject?

I think the first wash is extremely important,too...a kind of connection .

Wishing you every success.

Have been your fan for ages, though am thrilled we've caught up again.

Hope you will share your WIP...

 

Wonderful!

Photography Prints

 

Lara Virginia

9 Years Ago

Thank you Vivian! The subject? Pygmy goats! Two of them...and the down side? I have a deep rooted fear of goats, probably stemming from my childhood when I was obviously trapped somewhere with a goat!! The thing is, when I went to photograph them, they were in a field with a madder than hell alpaca who wanted to tear me limb from limb, so I strongly recommend that all artists add danger money to the price if needed! You're right about the first wash, it's kind of a way of getting to know the canvas, and I like to work from a darker background, rather than having the white glare back at me for an age...one of the two things I truly remember from a very short stint at college...work from dark to light...that, and how to sharpen a pencil properly!

 

Judy Kay

9 Years Ago

P.S. Since you use large canvas you might want to check out his thread : http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?messageid=1440898
"Genie Collapsible Canvas" !

 

Abbie Shores

9 Years Ago

I have done three or four this size and you will LOVE IT. Be prepared that halfway through you will be daunted and wonder if you should have done this but, move on and enjoy

 

Lara Virginia

9 Years Ago

Thanks Judy...I'm a bit behind, but these look great! And I suppose that the client could always take it too their local framer if they were really nervous about putting it back together

 

Marlene Burns

9 Years Ago

Once you go big, you'll never go back..you'll love the difference!
The smallest I paint is 3x3...I used to do 6x6 and larger when I was younger and had a greater ability to move things around....

Judy, thanks for reposting the geniecanvas thread!

I assure everyone, they are a dream..so easy, fantastic qualityAND cost efficient to ship in large sizes....you are just shipping a tube.
LAra, I alays give my clients that option....they just watch the video instead. A framer would laugh his head off...takes no more than 5 minutes to assemble.

 

Lara Virginia

9 Years Ago

Yep Marlene, I can imagine my framers face! For this piece, it's going locally, but if I'm going to carry on painting big, I would be inclined to use them anyway.

 

Kenneth Agnello

9 Years Ago

48 x 36 is huge? I scarcely do anything that "small." Most of my work ranges from 42 to 72 X 62 to 96 inches. Size for me is not a determinant factor in work load. In fact, I usually have greater difficulty with smaller pieces, requiring more man-hours on small work than on large. Large mural size canvases allow for the whole body to get involved, a free swinging of arms left to right, up and down, a greater physical experience, and I have never been more comfortable than when I paint large. In this loose energy, the expansive space is completed with greater rhythm and authority, less "caution" is needed. The real problem, however, is marketing and storing mural-sized canvases--Lord knows I have a storage filled with such children awaiting a home!

Do not be intimitated by the large blank canvas that stares at you resting upright--the surface fills up real quickly with color--and the final impact is overwhelming.

 

Lara Virginia

9 Years Ago

Ha Kenneth, I have some way to go! I'm looking forward to standing and moving around more, although space here is a bit limited...oh no, I see injuries coming up!

 

Kevin Callahan

9 Years Ago

Kenneth (and Marlene) are right on. I vacillate between large and small. Generally the smaller works do take longer. One thing I do is make my own stretchers and stretch the canvas. That is physically much more difficult but seriously less expensive.

This is a 30 second youtube of me making and painting a large work.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CjUUX4we1Q8

 

Lara Virginia

9 Years Ago

That's impressive Kevin! That's another thing I will do with this painting, is a WIP, which I don't often do.

 

Kenneth Agnello

9 Years Ago

Kevin is correct--one cannot afford to purchas a "ready-made" of a 72 inch x 87 inch canvas... I build my own stretchers and stretch and prime my own canvases...there is no other way. Further, as stressed, storage is always a problem. I have tried to free up my storage facility--too expensive--and have rolled numerous paintings like large carpets. The problem with rolling up large canvases is that they almost never see the light of day again--since nobody wants to buy them--and exhibiting is difficult, due to exhibition space limitations; they can suffer damage (cracking, flacking, etc.), as well. Restoration is generally simply, should someone call for the need. In summary, painting on large scale is artistically rewarding, and unleashed my abilities at an early age (mostly during the 1980's), but is also impractical, and has become burdensome as I age. Now, living in smaller confines (I once owned a house with large work area), I no longer can physically fit large paintings, like 72 x 87. The tide has changed; I have become "smaller-minded."

 

Kevin Callahan

9 Years Ago

Yes, yes.

 

Mary Ellen Anderson

9 Years Ago

Course depends greatly on the style I'm going to use (abstract, realism, etc), topic and other factors (like do I have to do it plein air - get it in the jeep) but this is one approach I use.

My son calls it the 'beautiful mind' method - lol.

You just tape up all you napkin-sketches, measure how much wall space you've covered and that's your canvas size. Transfer the sketches to the canvas and fill it in. (oh, if it was really that simple).

WIP blog on painting did last year

-- mary ellen anderson
Photography Prints

 

Kevin Callahan

9 Years Ago

I love it.

 

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