November 3, 2009

Since I'm doing a couple of big ones (3'x5'), I'm thinking about big vs. small and all points in between. I'm anxious to plan as carefully as possible because, as I make mistakes on these canvases, I make big mistakes and I want to avoid them. But good planning can go only so far.

Strangely, something can look good in a small format and look bad when enlarged, even though the dimensions are accurate. An interesting area can go from being a novel little bit to a big, ugly blob. (This phenomenon may relate to something in music. My mother, who was a violinist with perfect pitch, said she believed that a piece written in a particular key does not sound so good when it is played in another key. Sometimes there is just no easy translation.)

Nevertheless, I'm off and running, leaping into my first colossal mess with both feet: I can't get a large curve right, and I've painted and painted out three lines so far. What looks fine on the 3"x5" sketch turns out to be clumsy and misshapen at 3'x5.' Oh, well: one more time!

At least.

PW

PW