Going Large
When I finished the very first workshop The Art of Making Art everyone asked “what can we do next?” So a little thought and I put the feelers out to see if folk would like to have a go at painting on a much larger scale than an A4, A3. I remember from my college days being quite intimidated by a large sheet of A1 paper. How on earth was I going to fill it and where did I start? So I just wondered if others would like to have a go. The answer came back yes and I put the wheels into motion to have another workshop where we worked on a canvas measuring 70 x 70 cm. What fun it turned out to be !
Putting our knowledge from the first workshop into practise, putting time aside for a little recap of just having fun with marks and then spending a little bit of time on composition we were ready to start.
We gessoed, we added texture ( it was such a hot day I knew it would dry in time) and then we put a first layer down using spray paints. Taking the canvases outside to spray and just let rip with the colour was great fun. The confidence grew and several of us went back to add more colour.
I started a demonstration , getting those first marks down and building up the sky. Then I found, and I was so delighted, everyone overtook my demonstration. They started to work without me leading, they just put the paint down and started to enjoy themselves.
I then spent time being able to go round helping and advising. Although we all started out with roughly the same composition, we all finished with a unique piece of work .
Nobody was fazed by the larger canvas - it was great- no more big white space to intimidate and I think everyone agreed they found working on a large format more freeing.
If you’d like to have a go a painting on a larger scale drop me a message and I can organise another date for later in the year.
Take look at these cracking pieces of works in progress. Often with art you need to mull it over and make tweaks and changes to get it past the finished line. I think the participants will be doing just that with confidence.
