Thinking Big

One of the best concepts I learned when I was in art school was that if a design works well small, it will most likely look good large too. It is also much easier and less costly to test out design ideas in a small scale first.

After years of moving around and being compelled to make small paintings, 8 x 10 inches or smaller, I finally have the opportunity to break out the big brushes and test my skills at painting larger artwork.

Since I have a couple of blank walls that are calling out for paintings and I found a great deal on two canvases that are 36 x 48 inches, I decided to take on the challenge.

Sure, attempting something new like this does make me a bit anxious, but my strategy is to start with what I know, which is to design small.   

I did three watercolor paintings of roses in the 3:4 ratio (3x12=36 4x12=48) I really liked this one, it is 5x7 inches, but I trimmed it down to 4.5 x 6 inches to match the canvas ratio.

Next, I took a photo of the wall in the bedroom where I want one of the paintings to hang and combined the two photos using the Pixelmator program on my Mac.

Hmmm...it looks pretty good, but not exactly what I had in mind. I feel like the colors aren't quite right. They are not capturing the "restful" mood I wanted, somehow the rose feels busy to me.

Here's a different rose design...

the simpler bud and warmer colors are nice, but I think I want to try some other flowers. Perhaps roses are not the answer after all!

I searched through my photos and found a couple promising ones. Photos don't have the same feel as a painting, but they could point me in the right direction. 

 

 I like how the vertical stems of the irises echo the headboard of the bed and the arch of the orchid blooms is really elegant. Shifting the color palette to subdued purples instead pink could be a better solution. 

Now I have some more small painting designs to explore! I have also decided that it would be wiser to use the acrylic colors I intend to use in the final painting instead of the watercolor paints. 

It's ok that my first idea wasn't a perfect fit. I think I am closer to solving the puzzle now. Hopefully more small designs and consistent small steps will yield big results.

>^-^<
Tina

p.s. Which one do you like?