Showing posts with label large format. Show all posts
Showing posts with label large format. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Some New Thoughts on Art

Can there be any new thoughts on art? The same things keep coming and going. They rise in the mind, then disappear, then rise again.

This is most true of work that has been started, worked on for some time, then abandoned for some time, and then picked up again. Why does some work (most work, to be correct) require such an incubation period/ And why do they emerge better, afterward. Even though the initial thought with which the work was begun, had changed.


Fair Weather
Oil on canvas
50"x40"
Artist: Anuradha Rajkumari
Status: sold

The above mentioned painting is one such example. It was started and finished in the year 2007. But much went into its initial conceptualisation, then execution. Not only because it was a large canvas, but also because I was experimenting with colour and texture.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

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.