Have any of you ever done this? I just bought a bunch of big

[EFerrari]

pre-stretched canvas. And hung one up on the wall to see what I might see there because I'm painting again.

So, lol, there's a big blank canvas on my wall.

[cleofus1]

1. heh

i do that all the time...i usually use black gesso...so i usually have a big black canvas on the wall...

[EFerrari]

2. Thanks. It's great to see what could be there.

i don't know any painters so wanted to ask.

:)

[Beam Me Up]

16. You don't know any painters?

Uh ... yeh you do, sort of: http://www.rawpaint.com

I love big blank canvases -- unfortunately, I usually don't leave them blank more than five or six years at a time. LoL

:hi: sfexpat!

[cadmium]

3. Sort of. I always make some kind of underpainting - gesture

type marks. Then I put it up in the bedroom to look at it in the morning.

I have to say I never really come up with any good ideas doing this -- It is more like a sharpening pencils type ritual

[EFerrari]

11. I sort of understand that because there is a certain amount of fussing around

that I seem to do before work happens. It's like a dog beating down invisible tall grasses.

lol

[mopinko]

4. i often do that

especially when i am revving up for some real deep emotional work. that is what art is all about for me- examining my emotions and relationships, capturing emotional moments, processing my existential questions.
i especially do it when i haven't painted in a while, and i have a lot on my mind. i roll out my big paper, clip it to my drawing board, and wait to see what comes up. i usually do a bunch of small, simple figures, looking inward, feeling the emotions in my body, and drawing on that, not on my knowledge of the human figure. i do larger paintings from those, taking care to be as brave as possible in my choices. i also choose my colors to reflect those emotional states as closely as possible.
that big blank is a daunting thing. sometimes it takes me a while to work up the necessary courage.
i hope that your painting does as much for you as mine does for me. grab it with both hands.
take care, dear beth.

[EFerrari]

8. It's funny because that canvas is BIG. It's good to stretch on the days

I can. :-)

[Richard Steele]

5. Yes, I almost always do that. Sometimes with blanks, sometimes with...

...thin washes of randomly applied color.

The one thing that my art mentor said which had the greatest
lasting effect upon my work: "Staring is an important part of the process".

[EFerrari]

9. Boy, that's so true. Most of the creative work I do bypasses

the reasoning faculty altogether in the first stages. It's more like channeling. Later, when something has presented itself, then the technician "wakes up" and takes over. That's true for poetry as much as for painting.

[GenDem]

6. I have never done that....

but I will now. Great idea for inspiring the tired creative mind.

[Rock_Garden]

7. Hi, sfexpat2000!

So, what have you seen on your blank canvas, so far?

I put a blank piece of paper on my drafting table just about every day. It always gets me excited to see it there, every time. All I ever do is look at the blank paper, and within seconds I start seeing what I will draw. Once in a blue moon I get stuck, but not very often.

I think that's a great idea to hang the blank canvas!

[EFerrari]

10. Well, there's a hillside -- actually a group of three of them that

are on my mother's ranch. There's a little creek that runs between them and this great, rusting, VERY OLD tractor that looks like it's going back to its minerals a particle at a time.



I did two swipes and put it back up so I could keep watching it. The hillsides are ashy and the color needs to be adjusted. Also, I want to keep abstracting it to see how far that can be done while keeping the figure of the tractor.




/typo

[necklace]

12. If you clear your mind of thoughts, your painting will come to you!!! nt

[EFerrari]

13. I usually have no trouble being blank.

:silly:

lol

More seriously, there are images that just sort of stand out in 3D from everything else. This weekend, it was a group of statice plants at one corner of Golden Gate Park, and also, a peculiar view of the Cliff House that is perched on a hill between another hill and the beach.

They aren't ever the images that end up painted but more like, jumping off points. A matrix to tease a thread out from. Hmmm.

My camera died, though. :( I've gotten into the habit of taking snapshots so I can remember later -- that thing I saw or nearly saw. And darn! My poor little workhorse camera just went to digital heaven. RIP.

Anyone know a good, not too expensive camera with USB connectivity? Haven't shopped for six years now. :shrug:

[necklace]

14. Wish I could help you on that digital camera, but I'm also looking as well!!!

Sorry to hear about your camera, but I guess everything dies, including digital cameras! RIP :9

Hope the creative process with your canvas is going well!!!

[Beam Me Up]

17. I have an older digital camera I'll just give to you if you want it

Nikon coll pix 950. Doesn't have USB -- but USB card readers are fairly cheep.

PM me if you want it.

[watercolors]

15. I hung large canvas on wall for our cocktail party

on the table put brushes and jars of acrylic paint, it was a hit and we auctioned it off end of evening for a club benifit, great fun!