VISUAL YOGA

A ROSE SPEAKS OF LOVE SILENTLY acrylic on canvas 5 x 5” sold

Bought a single rose and painted it from life, in about 3 hours, one sitting, a small burst.

TAKES TWO TO TANGO oil on canvas 30 x 36” sold 

I spent a couple of hours taking photos to work from—waiting for a bee, and for the sun and the shadows to settle just so. Probably painted it in about 30 hours, in several sessions, in fits and starts.

Making art is a solitary undertaking, so talking shop with people who “get” your concerns and achievements is a real help. One recent conversation was about how different it is to paint very small than it is to paint large. Up close and far away; takes some mental and visual calisthenics. Oh, sure, all the principles apply to both, the basics of value, design, composition, technique, color, etc. But large and small require not only different brushes, but different vision.  

The truth is, I can’t fully explain it. I guess it's ways of seeing, both as you design the painting and as you execute it: the small image is an all-encompassing view, seeable and thinkable quickly, as a whole. It's personal. A larger image needs to work as a whole, too, but it's just not as immediate. In addition to being interesting up close, it needs to command its wall, and requires that you stand back to take it in with an encompassing view, to keep it in balance as you paint it or as you view it. 

Beyond that, there is more need in a big picture for bold, graphic design and values. A tiny image is charming because it is tiny, because it is clever in its hold-it-in-your-palm completeness. The big one needs to match its scale, to pull in the imagination as well as command the space around it.  

For the artist, perhaps the ideal is to switch between working large and working small. Keep the eyes seeing clearly and wholly, whether from 6 inches from your nose or 16 feet across the room. The instant impression and the wide-angle gaze. Shift, regroup, reimagine. Vision yoga. Stretching is good for you.