Size Matters part 2

TANKER 36"x36" oil on canvas

This has been a good painting week.  The 36”x36” TANKER painting was one of those rare paintings that just pour out of you.  I approached it a lot differently than the first TANKER painting.  First, the change in scale from 10”x16” to 36”x36” gave the image a lot more power.  Next, I wanted to keep some of the under painting (the drippy road) in the finished painting.  This is not very easy for a habitual over painter like me.  I tend to get compulsive and paint and repaint every inch.  Looseness is not something that I can do without a lot of forethought.  You know when you see one of those Chinese brush paintings that look wonderfully fresh, as if it took the artist five seconds, but actually took a lifetime of compulsive practice?  Well… that’s not me.  I have labored compulsively, but not at hiding my compulsion.  I also did something I never do.  I almost made a really flat sky.  I say “almost” because at the end I couldn’t help myself and I added some yellowy white to the area over the horizon line.