Getting On the Grid

"Soothe the Day"4.5x6 inch acrylic painting with 3:4 grid

Since I had surgery Oct. 5th on my left hand/wrist to release the ulnar nerve, I wasn't certain what kind of artwork or painting tips I would have ready to share this month. After 3 weeks, I'm glad to say I finally feel up to painting again. Although I am not allowed to put any stress on that hand for another 4 weeks, that's ok, it hurts to do so! I have become fairly creative at doing things one-handed, but I feel very lucky I can ask Jeff for help when I do get stuck! 

My new painting corner!

He kindly reassembled my large easel that has been boxed up and in storage since 2011. Plus he set up and stabilized the big 36''x48'' canvas for me. I'm so thrilled to have some actual studio space again, it's been six years since I last used this easel!

The main grid is made of 12 inch squares.

First order of business, measure and paint a 3:4 grid on the canvas to match the one I drew over the photo of the small test painting. Now I'm all set up for the fun part, sketching my design onto the large canvas.

Wow, almost like magic I have large flowers!

Since the grid helped me to get the flower outlines in their correct places so fast, I played around with filling in the shapes. I wanted to know how the liquid acrylics would look and behave on the canvas. Thank heaven those paint containers have flip-top lids, screw-top lids on anything are really difficult for me to open right now.

 Original 4.5"x 6" painting and enlarged drawing.

Here's the small original painting to compare with the larger sketch. Some people don't like using grids, but I think they are an incredibly useful tool when I want to enlarge a drawing and get the proportions right. For me, they save a lot of  time and frustration and anything that decreases creative anxiety and boosts my art making confidence is worth the extra effort! 

Happy creating,

>^-^<
Tina