Fifty Steps up - It's all about the view

Here we go again, aiming high for those very best walls we artists crave for!

Fifty Stairs Up is a great title for a new painting by SIP artist, Joan Layne - could you imagine  walking up 50 steps to the entrance of your home? It would have to have a great view! 

Once a painting is completed, what to paint next is the question.... and the search begins. If you paint one at a time as Joan, I and some other SIP artist do it's nice to have another fresh subject to fall back on. If you will, a change of pace. Joan can pretty much paint anything. She also has a signature style, a consistency which shows up regardless of what she decides to paint. 

She decided on Lilies shortly after signing off on Fifty Steps UP Saturday. She quickly started a new almost square vertical linen canvas below. It looks to be a 44x40, an SIP standard size. At the end of Sunday, Joan was well on her way to a new Best Wall Painting.

What if you really are just starting out on your journey as an artist? You have some references you might like to paint. Never has a lesson, just decided one day to dive in. Sunday, we had a new recruit, Leslie, who brought in a few canvases for show-and-tell plus a fresh canvas...all 36x48, a good size to paint on. This one caught my attention at 30-feet - straight up.  One of the things I look for is originality.... a diamond in the rough? 

It gives the coach a clue where their heart is, and most important a place to start. Not to make a clone but expand her natural talent, instincts, life experiences, whatever you want to call it. The thing that makes a person buy paint, canvas and pick up a brush.  

Leslie wants 2 paintings over 2 sofas in a room in her home. People need art in their lives, they either buy it or DIY it! Love it! 

After a bit of discussion, Leslie started her new 36x48 best wall painting. At days end I introduced her to the Apple IOS Smartist Pro app. A room mockup app that runs about $80 a year. A tool for testing and marketing your art to scale in actual room settings. The app confirms visually if  your canvas proportions will work, small or large.

Shown 36x48 (actual size) with 3.5 inch wide frame with white linen

Shown 48x60 with white floater 

SIP Summer Boot camp attracted a whole spectrum of skill levels. One or two recruits are ready for the big show, just never felt they were. Others need to work on their brushwork, subject selection, and streamline how they make wall art. They have enough experience but need a bit of outside direction. The summer recruits brought a new excitement to the SIP table that is immeasurable in value to the whole team.  It's contagious! 

Looking forward to seeing everyone’s homework!

Follow us and join the journey. This summer, it’s all about creating "The Best Wall Painting."

Good Art Survives - Best Wall Painting

Here we go again, aiming high for those very best walls we artists crave for!

 

When I decided to enter the art world it meant starting at the beginning, learning how to paint everything and anything. Just like our SIP recruits are doing this summer. Because you must have a quality work of art that shows good workmanship and attention to detail, an absolute in art and design. Sloppy work and happy accidents simply don't fly!

SIP Rainbow Palette

The rainbow palette evolved over the first few years from lots of designer colors paired down to a group of primary colors, mostly pure tones represented on a color wheel - many are transparent. I just added a permanent Orange from Harding to the list. A few colors like Sap Green fall away from every day use. There are no earth colors, those come from mixtures off my palette waste. My palette is always arranged the same. 

THE BEST WALL PAINTING:

I knew exactly what I wanted from my new career move. I wanted my work to hang on the best walls available. My advantage, I knew what that meant as a designer..... not before as a young artist though. A Best Wall Painting is primarily large works of art able to hold an equally large wall. How large is large? I can tell you it is not measured in inches, but feet. Very cozy environments are not excluded but not the norm here. The market is flooded with small works of every description imaginable. Why add more? 

 

Size is always relevant to a need. Think more about a 60x48 or a 60x60 canvas... even bigger if needed. 

 

A BIG BLANK 48x44 OIL PRIMED LINEN CANVAS

The reality, the norm is somewhere between small and large. Really large works are harder to sell. Because there are some boxes to be checked for any painting small or large to find a home. After 15 years you get a fair idea what your bread-and-butter size is. Mine falls just below the two sizes I mention above, a 48x44 or a 48x48 with or without a frame. A 4" frame can increase the size dramatically. 

My overall preference is an almost square canvas 44x40 with a 4" frame. The painting will finish out at a 52x48 best wall painting.... perfect fit for my SUV. Paint the largest canvas your transportation will allow.... I do. Not a bad size for a professional digital capture either.

Good art survives

A painting once sold starts its life on the treasured wall of a collector. An owner who was happy to live with it for a while.... as we know, not forever. The painting will continually face challenges at every estate sale as it passes through history. Like everything, art will have its ups and downs through history. My hope is "Summer Stroll" will have a bright future after it leaves my care. 

  "Summer Stroll" 

 Reborn into the digital world of art.

 Dream Big Artwork

Looking forward to seeing everyone’s homework!

Follow us and join the journey. This summer, it’s all about creating "The Best Wall Painting."