One of my favourite supports to work on is a chunky, small canvas. When I recently got a whole box full of six inch square ones I decided to prep a few in one go as I always find it easier to work on something which has had the 'newness' taken out of it. So I got out the modelling and texture mediums and applied some of those, followed by some almost random patches of colour.
I can thoroughly recommend this approach if you either have that 'blank page' discomfort or perhaps simply don't yet know what you want to paint. The canvas which ended up being The Inlet started out as the green and white one you can see in the other pics. I had a vague idea of the landscape I wanted to paint but it evolved as I was working on it into something different and, I feel, better.
Often the hardest job when creating something is just getting out of my own way and letting it happen.
I wanted to share a little trick with you today, something which, if you haven't already tried it, may well surprise you with its usefulness.
A long time ago, when I first began to make quilts, I discovered that it was nigh on impossible to get a good view of how work on my design wall looked. My studio, although spacious by some standards, is still a small room in a small house and I found that I couldn't get enough physical distance between me and the quilt to tell if the colour placement was balanced or if any areas needed obvious correction. Then one day I found one of those little spyhole devices - you know, the ones you put in your front door so you can see who's there - and I realised that by looking through it at my wall I could miraculously see the whole quilt as if from a good distance away!
Nowadays I use my digital camera for the same purpose and not only for textile work but also for collage and paintings. Maybe you've had experience of staring so long at something you're working on that you can no longer 'see' it? Well, I find it very worthwhile to stop and take a few pictures at such moments so that I can look at them on the computer and get my sense of 'distance' back. Often this will be enough to decide what needs doing next or to isolate things which I feel aren't working. It can also show me that sometimes a painting I've been fussing with is actually finished.
So, here is a canvas I'm working on at the moment. It's not quite there yet but I thought you might enjoy seeing the process.
