I just finished “Big Sur 29″- 24×30”. I was curious as to how long it’s been since I had done one that large. I looked it up and it’s been 13 years! I did one more after that, and was reluctant, but it was a family history and there was a lot in it. Frankly I needed the space. But now I am remembering why I don’t paint that large. They are very hard to do.
For one thing, I have always worked on a drafting table, slightly tilted. With anything that big, I have to really stretch across it. And for some of it, half of it to tell the truth, I’m painting upside down. On more than one occasion, I’ve flipped it back over and had to adjust it. Or redo something because I got it wrong.
The Big Sur series is actually easier because landscapes are more forgiving. But not on me. I thought when I started this series, the hill and cliffs would be so much easier than say, otter fur. Well, pointillism is so not easier than the fur. Or the lights of Paris. Or individual blades of grass that I used to do. But for the satisfaction from being able to paint those scenes when I thought I’d never be able to do anything like that, is worth every creak and grown when I struggle to stand up straight at the end of my work day.
“Big Sur 29″ 24×30”
