Artists Share Their Tips for Working on Large paintings

Taking on larger paintings can be intimidating and hard to figure out where to begin. Completing a large scale painting is so rewarding and can teach you so much! If your thinking about making a large painting I highly encourage you to try! I had some incredibly talented artists share their tips on painting large paintings to help you on your journey!

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Rachelle Kearns creates elegant art. Here’s what she shared:

“Artist tips for working large“
Painting large can be a little intimidating at first, but adopting even one of these tips may help you overcome the fear. 
1.  You need to start somewhere, so a technique I once used was to first draw out your painting in small. Plan out the painting, figure out colors and then enlarge it. Use a grid if needed!  Using a grid is the best way to ensure the proper proportions of your piece. Split your sketch into grid squares in proportion to the canvas. Then you should replicate the squares from your drawing into corresponding squares on the canvas. After your drawing is set you can erase the lines.
2.  When painting large, you will need a lot of space in your room or studio to create a large painting.  You will not see any mistakes if you only observe the painting up close, so you need to continuously step at least a few feet back to see anything that needs to be touched up. 
3.  Have enough paint on hand for the task; Remember, this is a large painting, and it will take more paint than you’re used to using. And if you’re mixing colors, make sure you have enough before you start. Trust me, you won’t be able to match it perfectly later.
4. Be ready to switch up a few things: depending on the size, you may need to use a step or ladder, larger brushes to be able to cover the canvas more efficiently, and time! Painting large may take more time than you’re accustomed to. 
5. Relax and have fun! You’re bravely tackling something new! Be gracious to yourself – with a little practice and time, painting large may quickly become your favorite form of expression, as it very much is mine.

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Taylor Pendleton that’s me! Here’s my tips:

• I always plan the style and colors on a smaller canvas first. This is also very helpful when doing a large custom painting for a client because then they can tell you colors or changes they may want before you begin on a large scale.
• If you find yourself getting stressed out while your painting take a break and come back to it when you’ve calmed down.
• If you have a client who wants an odd size canvas not available in stores you can order a canvas building kit from a site like Dick Blick art. I have built a 48×84 canvas before it wasn’t too hard to build and actually saved me quite a bit of money. If your building an extra large canvas the building kit will save you on oversized shipping.
• If you need an extra large canvas prebuilt Jerrys Artarama is my go to they have sizes as big a 72×72 but you do have to buy them in packs of 3.

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Carly Wiggers creates beautiful bold paintings. Here’s what she shared:

• Don’t overthink it!!!Larger canvases can be really intimidating, I know! Instead of thinking “Wow there is so much space for me to mess up” or “How am I going to fill this space?”..tell yourself “YAY I have this huge blank space to do whatever I want”. The key is to dream big!
• Approach the canvas differently than you would a smaller piece. Your brush strokes will need to be bigger, your movements will need to be bigger, and you’ll definitely be mixing much more paint. 
• Take more time to step back and look at your piece from a distance. Because the piece is at a larger scale, it will probably be admired from farther away than a smaller piece of art. Make sure your composition is bold enough to be SEEN. Make sure it is a beautifully captivating piece from a distance as well as beautifully detailed up close too. 
• Don’t get frustrated or impatient when you realize that it is taking you longer than usual! Trust me, you’ll feel so accomplished in the end when you realize what you just completed! It is the best feeling to finish a larger piece of art. 
• Document the process! Whether that be a time-lapse video or many pictures along the way, you’ll want to look back and see how much change the piece underwent. It will reveal a lot to you about your own process and technique! 
• Large canvases can be expensive. Be on the lookout for major sales from wherever you buy your canvases! When there is 50-70% off sale, stock up on the larger canvases while they are cheap! You’ll be thanking yourself later. 

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Beth Desrosiers creates gorgeous resin art. Here’s what she shared:

• Pouring resin paintings is rewarding but challenging.  Because of the curing process of the resin there is limited time to mix in colorants, pour, and manipulate on the panel.  Big resin pours take some preparation, but there is something so satisfying about dumping large volumes of color suspended in fluid resin.  The biggest pours I have completed have been a 4ft x6ft ocean/beach piece and my dining room table.
• I love pouring larger panels!  Here are some tips for working large in resin.  
• Make sure you have enough space for the work you are going to pour and prepare the area with a barrier to catch the run off.  I work on a large worktable, but some fluid artists protect their floor and work right on the ground.
• Prep your panel.  I pour on wood panels, so I sand all the surfaces and under-paint to cut down on the wood breathing through the resin.  
• Know the volume of resin you will need to cover your surface.  One milliliter of resin will cover about 1 square inch. I figure in extra because I like to have enough resin to evenly flow over the sides.  
• Know which colorants you will be using and have them laid out with stir sticks (I use plastic knifes) to mix in the resin as soon as the 2-part mixture is clear.  You may add your colorants to your color cups so they will be ready to mix as soon as your resin is ready.
• Use larger volume containers.  On bigger pieces, I have used an unused mop bucket and beverage pitchers from the dollar store to mix the amount of resin I need.  Note: bigger containers may require a bigger mixing sticks or even a drill with a mixing attachment.
• Have your heat gun plugged in within close reach.  Make sure you can maneuver all the way around the panel.  
• Make sure your torch is fueled up that the torch and extra fuel within easy reach.  
• Have extra gloves within easy reach.
• Easy access to a trashcan is very handy.
• Paper towels and rubbing alcohol maybe handy if resin gets on your skin.  
• Enlist the help of another person for mixing or torching and even to help you tilt the panel.  
• I hope that anyone who is keen to pour a larger resin painting may find some of these tips helpful.  

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SAMANTHA KURI Creates pretty fluid art. Here’s wjat she shared:

• JUST DO IT, PLAN, SCALE UP:
• Make sure you have a large enough work space, so you don’t feel mentally confined.
• Mix A LOT of paint. I don’t mind having leftover paint but there is nothing worse than running out of a color and having to stop creating to mix more.
• Scale your tools to the canvas. IE: I have a catalyst wedge for my normal size paintings, but for the larger ones I have a large shower squeegee. Same with my paddle brushes and paint cups. I have a range from 1” to 5” in my paddle brushes for different sized canvases and I have larger recycled pho containers rather than small cups for mixing more paint.
• Plan & prep ahead, clear your mind, and go for it. Just don’t get upset if you had a plan for the canvas and the canvas had a different one – it’s all a part of the process.

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Roxy Syroid creates lovely alcohol ink art. Here’s what she shared:

• Go in with some type of plan, even if you don’t stick to it. It’s helpful to have an idea and helps to make the piece feel less daunting
• Don’t rush and learn as you go along. If you always work on smaller pieces, a large one can feel quite daunting. Since there’s more space to fill, techniques you used on a smaller piece may need to be adjusted for a larger scale. Learn as you go a long and pay attention to what works and what doesn’t.
• Find a comfortable way to work that accommodates the size of your piece. Large pieces aren’t always work space friendly. Instead of having some dangle off of your desk, move to the floor where there may be more space.
• If you’ve been working on it for a while and begin to lose perspective, take a break for a while and come back to look at it with fresh eyes. What might have been bothering you for the last hour, may actually look good when you come back to it later.
• Also step away and look at your piece from a distance. That will help you see the piece as a whole instead of focusing on one part. Using a camera and taking pictures of it may help too, you may notice things you didn’t notice before.

Thank you to all the amazing artists who shared their tips!

I hope these tips were helpful to you and have inspired you to try your hand at creating a large master piece!! Please share this post if you enjoyed it. Tag me @happilyevercrafty and #happilyevercrafty to have your work featured on my Instagram! I would love to see! If you have any tips or questions I would love to hear from you! Happy crafting!