I have been busy, though. I just completed my very first commission! I'm very excited about it. It was a real challenge, but I enjoyed it very much.
I got the commission through a friend. She was bidding on a large hotel project and needed more artwork, so she asked her artist friends to submit their work. So I sent her links to my Flickr sets of 3 painting series, Palimpsest, Seeking Shelter, and Waxy Buildup. She included several pieces in her presentation, and they chose 4 pieces.
The first one is actually a triptych made of one of the Seeking Shelter pieces and two of the Palimpsest pieces. An interesting combination that I wouldn't have thought of.The original bird pieces were 20" x 16" and the piece in the middle was 12" x 12". The piece they commissioned is 3 panels measuring 45" x 17".
So I needed to recreate this piece in that new size. They don't expect it to be exactly like the original, but similar style, colors, etc.
The second piece was originally 12" x 24" (actually two 12" x 12" panels) and they wanted it reproduced 48" x 66". I ended up doing it on two 48" x 33" panels, since it had been a diptych to begin with.
The third was originally 12" x 12" and they wanted it 43" x 43"!
And the last was also originally a 12" x 12" and they commissioned it at 31" x 41".All of the pieces are encaustic. And if you've ever done large-scale encaustic painting, you know what a challenge it is. I'd never done anything this large before. And I'd also never tried to reproduce my paintings before. So it was quite a challenge!
Some specific challenges:
-Many of these pieces were created 4 or 5 years ago, and I don't have them any more, and I barely remember how I made them. I can now really appreciate those crazy, anal-retentive artists who make copious notes about their colors and processes!
-I used a lot of collage elements that are difficult to scale up to a larger size - maps, transfers, cut paper, etc. Also, one piece has a lot of scraping on it. It was 12" x 12" and the marks are made by a regular sized paint scraper. Hard to reproduce that affect on a 43" x 43" piece!
-I find it really difficult to get a smooth surface with encaustic at such a large size.
I'll go into more detail in future posts about each piece and show lots of work in progress shots. So stay tuned!
6 comments:
Wow! That's awesome! Can't wait to see the big ones. I couldn't imagine doing encaustic at that size.
Thanks, edbot!
Wow! Congratulations. No wonder you haven't blogged.
And what exciting challenges to figure out.
You certainly have a good reason for not blogging. Congratulations on the successful commission! I had two earlier this year; the clients were delightful to work with- sounds like you had a similarly pleasant experience with yours.
That does sound like a huge size for encaustic- I cannot imagine, having never worked in that medium (soon, very soon, though...)
Thanks for sharing your valuable insights here.
Congratulations Deanna! Apart from the financial benefits it sounds like you have gained so much from this experience. Looking forward to seeing how the process went.
Congratulations on the commission. I look forward to seeing the finished pieces.
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