Size of a Painting

Title: Between Heaven and Earth

Medium: Oil & acrylic on canvas

Size: 36"x36"

Even in painting, the question of size is sizeable. At least for some people. Some like things miniature. Like miniature paintings, writing your name on a grain of sand. Some might wonder - is that even possible? And how? For others, like architects, large format is the buzzword. Large buildings, offices, townships, cityscapes, skyscrapers. They laze in the sunshine of the humunguous.

For people like me, it is the size, but in the two-dimensional sense. As an artist, I have been most comfortable painting on canvases that are 20"x24" or more, like 40"x40" and 40"x48". It is an accepted fact that a larger surface creates a greater impact.

But it does not mean that one paints a better painting on a larger canvas. A good artist paints equally good pictures on both sizes. But the point is about comfort. If an artist ios comfortable with a larger canvas, then why not?

I have been trying to make smaller paintings too. And the greatest advantage, I feel in that, is the lesser paint and time it takes. A smaller painting gets done faster, so my results are there to see quicker than it would be normally if I do a large canvas. And I think that is not too little an advantage.

And then, one can do a lot of practice in smaller formats. Like with charcoal, ink and crayons. As the days pass, I discover more advantages.

It will be some time before I find out the exact size that would be right for me. But meanwhile, I would continue to work on both large and small canvases. There are joys in both.

Beauty of Santa Barbara

I've been thinking about art a lot, for some time now. I've been keeping an eye on the kinds of art that is on show in Santa Barbara, the competitions and exhibitions that are organized from time to time, the number of participants, the kind of responses these get.

One of the major drawbacks I feel here is the absence of large sized galleries. Due to the architectural requirements of the city, the buildings are not allowed to be higher than a certain height, and expansions and additions to buildings are discouraged and if done at all, severely restricted. The main aim of this actions is to maintain the beauty and exclusivity of the city, not to allow modern influences transgress the lifestyle, and urbanization overtake the sleepiness of the area.

All that is in good faith, and that has served to preserve the basic structure of the city in decades. The price of hosuing and rentals is very high, and for this reason, the number of commuters to Santa Barbara is much more than its current residents. People who work here prefer to stay in a less expensive place, and then drive to work. And that has resulted in the large number of vehicles on the roads during office hours.