First I should mention I have never successfully re-painted a small painting onto a larger format. It always looked like a copy of a small painting made larger. For me, it looked contrived and forced... No soul, no fire in the belly - plus I didn't enjoy painting in the moment. There wasn't any spontaneity.
So this is what I now do with a whole lot of meaningful adventure and honesty:
First of all, I cut myself some slack and then approach the larger surface with the same gusto and spirit as when working much smaller on my practice pieces.
I look at my practice pieces as a jumping off point - they were never meant to be exactly duplicated.
So with these larger pieces... I keep the same rhythm and painting
beat going... I act bigger! That's my secret - instead of just moving my hand (small painting) I now move everything on my body and paint everything with larger gestures, larger pools of paint, bigger water buckets and gigantic brushes or paper towels.
It's the
ATTITUDE about working larger and being a
working, action painter. I really enjoy the action in my studio while I make a painting. I don't want to lose this joy!
Crank up the music when you crank up the size!
