The painting a large canvas art has its own pleasures and challenges. It can be the attraction of working on a large scale to meet our own style and create impressive and magnificent work.
In this article, I will “encourage you” to cope with all your doubts and I will give you advice that will help you a lot in painting your “large canvas”.
Calculating The Scale Of The Canvas Art
Having such a large surface to paint, before starting to make our sketch, we must observe in detail the reason to paint and define if we want to do it with many or few details.
It is not the same to paint many details with the due attention they deserve, to paint everything in a more generalized way and giving only due attention to the main object of our work, as well as its lights and shadows.
Therefore it is essential to define the details with which we will carry out the work. And start. In order to transport the idea of canvas art, the simplest thing is to do it with the grid method, which is a practical way of moving the drawing to the canvas.
Larger Canvas Art, Larger Brushes And More Paint
The painting on a large canvas is the only time where you require large brushes. It is not simply a matter of large brushes that help cover the canvas more quickly.
They also help to “let go” of our hand, finding our own style that with small brushes is more difficult to practice.
To give the brushstrokes we must be on the move, not stand still or sit in the same place. Why? Because if we stay in a fixed place, we tend to “stretch” to reach the edges, and this results in a straight line in the paint forming a downward curve at the ends, just the way we move the arm. We will also obviously need much more paint.
If you’re mixing colors without, however, you need to remember to mix a larger amount. The amount used for the mixture will be part of our experience and we should remember how it was made, since if at another time we need to replenish that mixture it does not complicate us thinking how we had achieved it.
If the budget for our oils is limited, we can consider the option of making the first layers (always remember fatty on lean) with cheaper oils, (even with acrylics) leaving the most expensive and best quality oil for the upper layers.
How Long Should I Paint It?
The time of realization depends on several factors if we are acquiring experience or it is by some manager. If it is with more or fewer details. In short, all this adds up to the time it takes us to paint it.
Anyway, a good option to further the work is to divide the picture into 4 or even 6 parts. When working by sectors, it will be much easier for us to paint these sections, while it could take us to paint the whole picture at once.
It is also important to have a certain “distance” from the painting, in order to get away from time to time and look at details that we would not realize nearby.
We can’t be impatient, or worse, get bored. If this happens, it is very likely that painting a large canvas is not for us, and we should look for the painting style that attracts us and makes us feel comfortable.
