Going Large!

I am excited to try my next picture at a larger size.

It will be an interesting challenge and I feel it is more likely to have visual impact in a room or gallery space.

Mahl Stick & batten rail

In my studio working on one of my paintings from imagination

When deciding to paint onto a big canvas, there are several things to consider.

The size needs to be determined on how it is going to be transported to a venue or a buyer. In my case, I had to measure the back of the car, with the rear seats down, taking into account the distance on the flat bed between the wheel arches, frame width and allowing for clearance, to enable it to be moved in and out of the car easily, without risking damage and to prevent it from getting wedged. Allowing for the frame width and 20mm clearance, this established the height of the painting canvas needing to be 900mm maximum. With the tailgate closed, the maximum length is 1.5 metres.

Measuring between the wheel arches

As I have already produced my preparatory sketch for the next painting, to the same proportion of canvases already painted in the current series, this would calculate the length at 1080mm. I opted for 1.1 metres, as this was nearest length that I could get.

The next issue is that one has to consider the storage space required for large canvases; whether one has the wall space available to hang them on or a big store room to put them in safely.

With the size now being bigger than the existing paintings in the current series, it meant that I could not use the same standard size quality pre-stretched canvases. After research and advice from Jacksons Art, they sent me a sample of fine canvas in Universal primer, which is acrylic based. This enabled me to apply a coat of acrylic gesso paint, which can be lightly sanded by hand with a very fine paper. This achieved the smooth surface that my paintings require for fine detail. Remember that oil paint can be applied to acrylic but not the other way around, so in this instance an oil based primer would not work.

The size of painting that I now required, was not of a standard size and I wanted the thickness to be the same as my other paintings, to work with the frame section. This meant ordering a bespoke canvas, which adds to the already increased cost. Remember to ensure a taut tension, to stop it from sagging and to provide a fairly firm surface to paint on, to use the corner wedges provided and to follow the manufacturer’s recommendations.

A bigger canvas also means bigger brushes and mixing up bigger batches of colour paint, more paint and a bigger mixing pallet. Also, more gesso primer will be needed and one will need to take great care in applying it, to ensure an even coverage. The same applies for the top varnish coats, that also require a large enough and dust free environment.

Working big in a studio usually requires room to stand back to view from a distance. Thankfully, I have a large double sided easel on wheels that I can turn around for this purpose. Another tip is to use a camera or smart phone to photograph it in stages, that will help create the viewing from distance. Remember it is very important to rest your eyes regularly, to prevent eye strain and to view the work in progress with fresh eyes. This also helps to prevent one from overworking the painting, as it is a vital part of constant review.

A larger canvas will require more physical effort and will take longer, if the same level of detail and finish is required as my smaller works.

As an artist, I have had shoulder problems in the past, through years of lots of drawing, jarring it a long time ago when digging a trench, and having been involved in a car crash a few years ago, when someone accidentally drove into the front side of my car. Physiotherapy exercises helped it a lot, to build up the muscles around it. I still do regular exercises for my shoulder, doing press ups and using weights (not too heavy), as recommended by an experienced rugby player that I knew.

Posture and regular rests are vitally important. When I paint, I stand upright in comfortable footwear, use a stool for the middle of the canvas and a lower chair on castors for the bottom of the picture, to keep my back upright. Slouching over a horizontal surface for hours is very bad for one’s back and neck. I use a Mahl stick to rest my hand on and I am very conscious of my arm position at all times. We are not designed to have our arms above the horizontal level because this would put a tremendous strain on our shoulders. To prevent the stick from touching my painting, I add a long batten rail above my canvas, that slightly projects proud and is attached to the easel. The trouble with working large is the stick and batten will need to be longer. The other advantage of painting upright is that one is viewing the work as it will be seen on the wall, which would not be the case working on a big horizontal surface (meaning to keep moving the painting upright to view from time to time, risking damaging and smudging the paint).

Big Canvas in delivery packaging

Compared to current Canvas size!

Watch this space for news of the outcome of this endeavour into painting on larger canvas…