The Grove, 12 x 21 inches, oil on linen
After I went down to the olive grove to do a couple of sketches in January, I finally worked up the final design for the big painting. The painting above is the study for it. After doing many studies of these olive trees, I came to the conclusion that, while a tonalist approach would give me a compelling mood, I didn't think it would work as well at the huge scale of 48 x 84 inches. Since most of the painting is going to be foliage, which basically is a soft abstract mass, a tonal painting may not provide enough visual interest. How can I make a big soft green abstract mass interesting to look at? Brushstrokes and texture alone wasn't going to do it for me, and there really wasn't going to be strong structure in this area either, which means I couldn't rely on value to create interest.
Well, how about color? I started experimenting with color contrasts, and noticed my painting getting more and more impressionistic, and I became confident that this was the solution I was looking for. I keyed up the shadows on the ground plane, and pushed the hues apart. I ended up with a painting that not only looked like the grove, but felt like it too, which was what I wanted in the first place.
Anyway, I'm ready to start on the big canvas finally, so I got some long stretchers and proceeded to put my support together.
It's four feet by seven feet, so it's pretty big; in fact, I think it's the biggest canvas I've ever stretched! I've done paintings bigger than this for theater backdrops, but not on stretched canvas. I used three cross braces to support the long side, and 10 inch corner triangles were attached from the back.
...then cut the canvas to size,
It took a few hundred staples to stretched the canvas. If you've ever stretched canvas, you know it's no walk in the park. If you have smallish hands like me, the canvas pliers are murder on them. My hands were getting blistered toward the end.
With one staple left to go, I pulled on the last bit of canvas with my pliers and...
Rrrrriip!!! I tore the corner! NOOOooooOOooOOooo!!!!! was heard around the block at that point. My gawd! The LAST staple!! can you believe that? I just stood there in disbelief. My hands were blistered, and a few hours of work just went down the drain.
Oh well, whaddayagonna do? For the next hour I cursed the canvas as I pulled out each and every staple. I was too disgusted to start again today, so I just went and soaked my hands.
What I really need right now, is a beer.
Well, how about color? I started experimenting with color contrasts, and noticed my painting getting more and more impressionistic, and I became confident that this was the solution I was looking for. I keyed up the shadows on the ground plane, and pushed the hues apart. I ended up with a painting that not only looked like the grove, but felt like it too, which was what I wanted in the first place.
Anyway, I'm ready to start on the big canvas finally, so I got some long stretchers and proceeded to put my support together.
It's four feet by seven feet, so it's pretty big; in fact, I think it's the biggest canvas I've ever stretched! I've done paintings bigger than this for theater backdrops, but not on stretched canvas. I used three cross braces to support the long side, and 10 inch corner triangles were attached from the back.
...then cut the canvas to size,
It took a few hundred staples to stretched the canvas. If you've ever stretched canvas, you know it's no walk in the park. If you have smallish hands like me, the canvas pliers are murder on them. My hands were getting blistered toward the end.
With one staple left to go, I pulled on the last bit of canvas with my pliers and...
Rrrrriip!!! I tore the corner! NOOOooooOOooOOooo!!!!! was heard around the block at that point. My gawd! The LAST staple!! can you believe that? I just stood there in disbelief. My hands were blistered, and a few hours of work just went down the drain.
Oh well, whaddayagonna do? For the next hour I cursed the canvas as I pulled out each and every staple. I was too disgusted to start again today, so I just went and soaked my hands.
What I really need right now, is a beer.
5 comments:
Gee Terry, that's a horrible story.
I think most of us have experienced this, but probably not at that scale.
I suppose that's one of the reasons so many big-painting contemporary folks hire assistants.
How tempted were you to try and stitch it up?? ha...
I remember breaking my first stretcher... one one hand I felt kinda tough for pulling it so tight, but on the other hand, I was depressed.
So good job! And condolences...
D'oh. So sad. You should have 2 beers, and lay off the spinach Popeye. I will be excited to see this monster painting, with daily update posts.
I have been there too many times! It's always the last corner too. I now blunt all my corners with sand paper before stretching. I don't think it's happened since I started doing that although I can't be certain. The study looks fantastic BTW. I really like the ground especially.
Nice to see you working on this frame, in these pictures.
For paintings on canvas, I use (way more expensive!) thick 'Linnen' (as we call it in Holland), which is so strong that you'll not be able to tear it. But that would indeed be costly and even harder to put on to the frame.
Good luck on the second attempt, it's always nice to see other people's ways of doing things and using materials!
arrrrrrrgh
even READING this story made me feel like my nuts had just been kicked. my condolences!
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