The struggle to paint bigger
...and why I love making smaller artworks
Hello everyone, I’m going to be honest and say that the other night I had a bit of a meltdown. An art-related meltdown. The type you sometimes have when you’ve spent days on a painting - rethinking, adjusting, correcting, and yet it still doesn’t look right and you’re not sure it ever will. I’ve been working on a large canvas, and I’ve come to a realisation: I don’t actually enjoy working on a large scale anymore, and I think that there are a couple of reasons for this. Throughout this post, I’ll share some works I’ve made recently that I really love - and all of them are on paper and measure 14 inches (35cm) or less.
Image: October Days. Watercolour & gouache on paper. 14 x 10” / 35 x 25cm
In the past, I worked on fairly large canvases all the time, including some that were about a metre square, but over the years I’ve gradually switched to painting mostly on paper, concentrating on smaller artworks in watercolour and gouache. Through the medium of watercolour, my work has evolved to become more expressive, and I’ve found myself experimenting with different colour palettes - prior to this, my work was cooler in tone and I restricted the colours I used much more than I do now. I still love cool tones, but I’ve found that my work is warming up, and I’ve even recently created a ‘warm-toned watercolour palette’ full of my new favourite colours (if you’re interested, you can find details of that in a recent post on my Patreon). The transparency of watercolour, and the fact that you cannot completely tame it - it definitely wants to do its own thing! - has created a new dimension to my work.
Image: A Blustery November Day 2. Watercolour & gouache on paper. 13.25 x 9” / 33.5 x 23cm
I suppose that I could work on a larger scale with watercolour, but it tends to lend itself to smaller pieces - desk-based paintings, sketchbooks, miniatures - and I just love working smaller. For years I felt that I should be working on a large scale if I wanted to be a ‘proper artist’ (ridiculous, I know). But my work is rooted in folk art and illustration, which suits a smaller scale. There’s also something immediate about watercolour and gouache; I can work quickly, which stops me from overthinking things, and the result is a painting with more life and character. With smaller pieces, I can finish things within one or two sessions, which gives me a sense of accomplishment - and I have no time to get bored! Larger paintings require days of intense work, sometimes weeks. Plenty of time to overthink and overwork, until I’m thoroughly fed up with the whole thing, often abandoning it and returning to my beloved smaller pieces.
Image: A Blustery November Day. Watercolour & gouache on paper. 10 x 7” / 25 x 18cm
Will I stop working on larger paintings totally in the future? I’m not sure. I have at least five unused large canvases, and I don’t want to waste them. I have an idea for working on them that may be easier and more interesting for me. But honestly, after I’ve used those, I’d be happy to work exclusively on small canvases or on sheets of paper. I’d like to experiment with making tiny handmade art books, and also using my artwork for printed zines. I think that small artworks can have the same impact as larger pieces, just in a different way. They’re more intimate and they invite you to come closer to look at them; these tiny, magical worlds.
They’re easy to store, and easy to sell. Easy to send to their new homes (have you ever tried packaging a large canvas to send across an ocean?!), and they make owning original artwork more accessible. What’s not to like?
Do you enjoy working on a small or large scale? I’d love to know, and more importantly, I’d love to know why.
Thanks for reading & see you soon.
Natasha xxx
I love that you have shared this Natasha. When I first started following your art journey many years ago I was drawn to your large, minimalist, muted canvases. It has been such a privilege to watch your journey as an artist. As we go through life we change all the time. The person I am now at 67, it seems to me, is nothing like the 18 year old girl I once was. Why should your art be unchanging as you, yourself, have surely changed. It's all a journey. Leaving things behind to embrace the new that enthralls us is only natural and this is reflected in your work. All very easily recognised as Natasha, but ever changing and growing.
Keep experimenting and paint the way that gives you most pleasure. Your joy in your work shines through, as it always has done, at every stage of your journey.
X
Thank you for sharing this Natasha, and I know you mentioned this on our Patreon zoom session yesterday evening.
It can be a tricky thing to embrace the changes that we go through. For a long time, a couple of years I think it's been altogether, I've been fighting with the thought that I may not make silver jewellery again. Whenever I've got all of my stuff out to work on some, I've had a go, I've found it frustrating and tiresome, and I just don't feel the joy for it anymore, I really dislike the mess, the amount of stuff that's required, materials, tools etc, and I'm in a room in a shared house as you know and it's just not practical. I had been thinking that once I get my own place sorted in a year or so's time, I can have a dedicated space for it all. But actually I'm starting to think I won't ever go back to it, and that has been hard, as I did a degree and spent so much money on learning how to do it, I fought so long with the idea that it was a waste. But these last few months I've left it alone completely, and honestly, I don't miss it, and I've come to understand that I am in an evolution in my life, where I like simplicity, just a few materials around me that's easy to clear up and put away, and art has really become that thing for me now, now that I'm settled in my art style, I love how relaxing it is and how lost I get in it.
All of this is to say that it's ok for us to go through evolutions in our creative pursuits, we change and grow as we explore and what used to work for us, may not work anymore, and that's ok, and the wonderful thing about our creative practices is that that thing we learned how to do never goes away, it's always there if we wish to come back to it, we may need to scrape off the rust a little when of if we do, but muscle memory kicks in and the brain understands that this is something familiar.
You do what brings you joy, and I think this is especially important if you're a full time creative for a job. Your work is wonderful on every scale, so if you need to tuck those big canvases away for a while then so be it, be kind to yourself and do what feels right for you for where you are in life right now ❤️❤️