big art, small art

Thanksgiving has come and gone. One day off has a way of going by very quickly! I am staring at my brushes, and the big oil painting on my easel that needs finishing. I would like to get to it right away, but you know I am paying bills, doing paperwork, and trying to sell art to people who come in. So it must wait. This is a painting that I have reworked 3 or 4 times now. I think it is close to being finished, but it ISN'T finished yet. It still needs resolution.


The watercolor I am posting today is a recent painting (from late summer). I like the looseness of it, and I find the color combination appealing. I have always liked the look of watercolor and ink together. It is small, measuring just under 6" square. I have been told that some artists who work big are not able to work small, and vice versa. I have always enjoyed both. There is a time when the intimacy of small work pulls me in. Then, there are those days when nothing will satisfy like a huge painting. In a big painting, a line is the result of whole arm movements - even body movements. The act of painting is almost a dance with a brush to record it. It is unlike a small painting, where a line is a result of a finger or wrist movement. Sometimes, I find that I can work out composition problems in a smaller work and then blow it up big. I will continue to work both ways, no doubt.