BIG Part II

Last week I relayed my first steps of planning a sizable three-panel triptych. I’m excited to share that I’ve started on the first panel, and while it’s not done, it is covered top to bottom in big swaths of paint and texture!

As a re-cap I started with a wax sketch and then a miniature version.

I narrowed down my palette and took a lot of notes for the transition from small pans of color to mixing large quantities.

My two biggest concerns at this point are being able to mix consistent color across all three panels and a cohesive composition since I don't have the space to work on the panels side by side.

This is panel 1 of 3 with the first layer of clear wax.

Two feet by three feet doesn’t sound big until it doesn’t fit on the work bench. My hand for scale.

Blocking in section 1 - rocks and sea foam.

A close up of the section of rocks. So much luscious texture!

I’ve divided the painting into five working sections. I’ve blocked out each section here with the intended color preparations.
I’ve had to work it sideways on my bench because there isn’t enough room otherwise.

As I moved into more details, I had to hang it to observe it from a distance to ensure the perspective and color values matched up. It’s a long way from being done, but I’ve had a fabulous time so far.

My biggest takeaways from getting this far are while working this big is intimidating, it’s also liberating to not have to be tedious in my brush strokes or delicate in any way. I was just slopping paint about. It was good fun!

Unfortunately, this painting will be on hold until the end of March as I’ll be traveling for large chunks of March and working on other projects. I’ll post an update as soon as I have one.

Stay tuned for Big Part III coming in April!