Time to Face the Big Ones!
I finally have the nerve up to attempt the large scale portraits.
My intention is to paint two compositions both filling 180cm x 120 blocks of cardboard. My nervousness is probably justified as having never painted on this scale before, failure would cost a considerable amount of time and expense.
There were technical difficulties to overcome even before painting commenced. My chosen cardboard substrate at 180cm x 120 would have to be thick enough not to bow, so time and effort was needed to pva four sheets of cardboard together to cure this. This hurdle was successfully overcome and painting could now begin.
I am taking these one at a time! I started with Stuart, a homeless man selling the big issue. His face was scaled up and satisfactorily drawn onto the board. My aim with the large scale is to give these people a monumentality, a physicality, and a presence which I believe is needed to emphasise the importance of the issue I am trying to portray.
I want the viewer to notice these people!
With the drawing successfully translated I could begin to paint. The basic tones were then blocked in. At this stage I am not happy, the large scale is not yet impressing me. It is still early days but at the moment it doesn’t have the presence I was looking for. One positive is that the large cardboard canvas is holding up to the punishment I’m giving it!
