Chapparal Road – Daily Painting
Chapparal Road – 2.5 in x 3.5 in – ACEO – oil on gessoed matboard
This miniature oil painting was inspired by our recent trip up to Idyllwild. Along the way we passed through an area of chaparral, at the edge of the pine forest. Within a few hundred feet this sagebrush and scrub began to give way to tall pines such as those I painted earlier in Idylllwild Slope.
One thing that I’ve discovered by painting oils this small (the size of a sports trading card) is that it prevents me from getting too fussy with tiny details. I suppose it would be the equivalent of painting with large brushes on a 9 x 12 canvas. It’s all a matter of scale. Painting this small forces me to make decisions about broad shapes and values, and not to paint every leaf on the tree. (Well, some of them, but not all.) It would make a swell over the sofa painting if you had a very small sofa!
Here it is approximately actual size. Fortunately I am very nearsighted, which makes it easier to paint closeup than far away.
Cin
January 12, 2007
every day wonderful to see!
David
January 13, 2007
Hey, I really like your stuff. You art is beautiful! I, myself, am a creative kid and I was hoping we could be creative buddies. I love your work! Keep on doing it.
— David
Swan
January 13, 2007
Actually, the first picture of the painting is almost exactly the actual size on my computer, it all depends on screen resolution…
Nice little painting!
Wendy
January 14, 2007
How did ya do it? It’s so small! And still neat!
I’d like to see a picture of you peering at it – spectacles off I expect – as you do it! I take off my specs to read these days and also don’t need them for the computer. But I do need them for crossing the road!
W.
Tom G
January 15, 2007
I love working on a small scale…but I don’t know if I’ve ever worked on THAT small of a scale.
The painting is fantastic. I love the colors, the brush strokes, everything.