Until now, my Llyn y Fan Fach painting was the largest I’ve painted. However, I recently took delivery of a load of large canvases in aspect ratios I really like, and I’ve finally laid paint onto my largest piece so far.
I’ve wanted to paint large for some time. I’ve been used to cramming in minuscule details into my 7″x5″ paintings so moving up in size presents a whole new set of challenges.
I started working on the final piece of Sgwd Gwladus that I completed a colour study for a few weeks ago. The initial sketching process was comparatively quick and it wasn’t long before I was spreading paint all over the canvas.
Approaching a smaller canvas requires accuracy and restraint, but jumping to such a large canvas throws that out the window. I hadn’t foreseen just how much more energy and confidence was required to paint at this size, but I loved it. Some rousing prog-metal music in the form of Dream Theater kept me flowing throughout the first two-hour stint on the piece.
Three-quarters of the piece is blocked in. I just need to work on the autumn foliage in the top-right corner before the blocking-in stage is finished. Then it’s on to refining all the colours and values much like I did with Llyn y Fan Fach. I know this one is going to take some time, but I can’t wait to get stuck into it.
