Encouragement for those who work small . . .

[walden]

Last night I was following gallery links from favorite artists' pages, and found this exhibition held last year by a pricy East Coast gallery of small plein air works by nine superb artists: Trees Gallery (http://www.treesplace.com/01OnLocation.html) . The main page shows several pieces, and if you click on the individual artists' names down at the bottom you can see three or four additional pieces by that artist as well as read the artist's bio. Anyway, I prefer small panels for my plein air work, and I found both the quality of the art, and the prices for which it can sell, inspirational. :)

[impressionist2]

Lisa, Trees was featured a few years back in American Artist mag. as one of the top five galleries. I believe they carry phenomenal portraiture too. At least they used to.

Renee

[walden]

I'm not surprised, Renee-- I thought the work was just outstanding. You know, every time my work improves, I go look at the work of artists I greatly admire, just to check: am I getting closer to that standard of quality? And, my answer is always the same-- yeah, closer, but not close. :D

There's NO chance I'll get complacent any day soon.

[blondheim12]

I too love small paintings and do them often, from 4x6 inches to 12x16 and all in between. I sell alot of paintings in those sizes. Many tell me that my small paintings are my best work.
Love,
Linda
http://pleinairflorida.org

[Wayne Gaudon]

M. STEPHEN DOHERTY .. .. awesome stuff by this guy.
http://www.treesplace.com/01Doherty.html

[walden]

Linda, I would agree that your smaller pieces are among your best work-- I'm glad your customers recognize that!

Wayne, I'm not surprised that you particularly like his stuff-- his style reminds me very much of yours.

My preferred sizes are 8x10 and 9x12, because they seem so just right for me. But, I liked the proportions of 8x10 so much that I've recently been experimenting with 11x14. There wouldn't seem to be that much difference between a .8 aspect ratio and .75, but for some scenes, for me anyway, it just makes all the difference in the world. And, 11x14 and 12x16 may seem about the same size, but the 12x16 is about 25% larger, quite a difference. And, the 9x12 is 35% larger than an 8x10, although it doesn't seem like it.

[artbabe21]

Interesting site with rather large prices for those tiny paintings----though they are certainly quality artists all. Guess I am not in the real world here in MT!

Wayne, I too think that Doherty's work reminds me of yours. Whopee, does that mean as Pres I will be getting a raise any time soon?? Keep working and quit falling!! :D

Lisa, I think I will have a huge adjustment when I go out and try this, as I am used to much larger canvases, I have been known to favor 11 X 14 though. But think I will begin with an 8 x 10 just so I don't get discouraged!
thanks! Cathleen~

[Wayne Gaudon]

Hey Pres my choice is 11 x 14 .. it's right in the middle .. not too small .. not too big. You want something you don't have to work on for longer than 2 hours cause that is about the max of time you get and sometimes not even that.

[CarlyHardy]

Well...right now I still have some 11x14's, so I guess it will be my favorite size until they're all painted on!

I'd like to do some different sizes with landscapes...like 9x12 for a long horizontal look.
carly