Going bigger

Here's an update on the caustic reflections painting that I started.  I've spent more hours glazing, and making a start on the reflected lights dancing across the hull of the boat.  Its quite an abstract piece at this point and may still look like that in its finished state considering the intimate viewpoint, but the subject is the reflected light from the water onto the hull of a moored boat.

Working on a larger painting makes me shift my thinking as well as the practical aspects of painting.  Working on a bigger canvas (24 x 30") involves increasing size on everything from palette to brushes.  24 x 30 may not seem large, but its larger than my usual size.

I've commandeered an 18" x 24" aluminum tray as my palette.  Other general palettes are too small to allow for mixing the paint and accomodating the larger brush sizes.   I did first look for a sheet of glass in the barn, but couldn't find something that was suitable so figured this would work.  And as it is acrylic paint, it can be scraped down afterwards - not that the tray will be food grade ever again.

I'm a detail freak, so smaller brushes are those that I am most comfortable with.  But for a larger painting, I've moved up to 2" and 4" brushes, with some smaller flats for edging and my favourite 1" scrubby for blending some areas.  Small foam rollers also can work well for laying down colour on large areas and give interesting texture too.

The amount of paint that is required for a larger piece is noticeable as well as the amount of medium that I use to keep the acrylics flowing for longer. All techniques remain the same, its simply a matter of large sizing tools.

Except for smaller details, I need to stand to paint on a larger piece and with hours of glazing, arm muscles get tired.  It may be back to the free weights for me if I want to continue with larger pieces!