Why you should paint large

There’s a wondrous feeling of visiting an art gallery and seeing a wall-sized framed masterpiece. They stand out alongside the numerous smaller works. So what makes one master use such a large frame? What inspires them to depict epic and grandiose scenes? When we first start out as artists or aspiring beginners in any field, we tend to choose a smaller canvas. So what is it that we fear on a larger canvas?

One of my favorites: The Raft of the Medusa

Intuitively, a larger canvas means more room for error. It’s why older movies with CGI are almost comical on an IMAX screen. Every mistake is blatantly obvious when every detail is clearly on display. It’s impossible to hide in the shadows when faced with the midday sun. 

Staring at the sun can reduce your braincells by 15%!

If you truly want to get better at what you’re doing in an efficient manner, it is important at times to paint large. It can be a great tool to expose weaknesses or flaws in your thinking. Put things on display, gather feedback from peers, and make the necessary changes to achieve your goals. Keeping weaknesses hidden will mean they always stay weaknesses. You must put in time to achieve balance across all skills in your chosen discipline.

Inverted pyramids are way cooler

It’s easy to gloss over details when you can’t see them. In your current projects, what are you hiding by painting small? What flaws are you glossing over, hoping that by a miracle they one day stop being a weakness. And hoping is the key word. You are being passive instead of active. You can only gloss over weaknesses until they are exposed. And better you expose them yourself, than a competitor in a critical moment.