The Big Painting

Some time ago, a client came to me with an idea for an anniversary present for her parents. She wanted to incorporate the images of all 21 dogs they’ve had or fostered since she and her siblings were little. In one painting.

She sent me hard copies of photos from albums, old Christmas newsletters and digital images, plus a clear catalog of all 21 pooches, their name and description. I took all the photos and played around with them in Photoshop for awhile to come up with a pleasing composition. Rather than try to portray each dog in exact size proportions, I decided to feature her parents in the center with all the dogs sort of floating around them like a collage.

It was destined to be a large painting from the start.

I special-ordered 26×40″ paper and handcrafted this hoopty workstation you see below. It was great fun to paint and I love how it turned out.

My improvised work surface

Reference photos on the wall

I told you it was a big painting.

Fin!

The client picked the painting up from my studio and took it all the way to Alaska on a family cruise so it could be presented on the ship. I hear they loved it. I’m inspired to paint larger paintings now and found out I can order rolls of Yupo paper up to 60″ wide and 133′ long.

Anyone need big art?!