About a month ago, I remembered reading in a book I have that years ago Bob Kuhn had found the perfect size. I didn’t remember what it was, but knew he used those dimensions for quite a number of his paintings. The paintings were smaller in scale and he liked the format and detail he could put into the composition. Thinking, "why reinvent the wheel," I found the book in which he was quoted. He was talking about this perfect size and how a friend had suggested he paint all the big North American game with these dimensions.
"Perfect," I thought. I’d probably want to reduce the size but I could keep the same proportions. Now, all I had to do was find the size in the book. I found it. 14.5" X 18.5".
Ick! What a horrible size! Granted Bob Kuhn’s paintings were wonderful, but no matter how many ways I looked at it, the 1:1.28 ratio just didn’t appeal to me. Too square.
So, it was time to invent my wheel, my "perfect" size.
The first consideration, I wanted it less than one square foot. Secondly, I didn’t want it to be a "standard" size, (8" X 10" or 9" X 12".) After about an hour of calculations, taking boards and looking at them up close and from across the room, I got it.
So, for now, my perfect size is .........
(You didn’t expect me to tell you in this blog did you? The first of the next 5 or 6 paintings at this size will be posted in the next several days.)
4 comments:
We're waiting, we're waiting :)
Actually, I don't think the perfect general size exists but I'm curious about what you come up with.
I'm more willing to believe there are a limited number of ideal ratios of width to height, but I'm happy to be corrected.
Come on Linda, put us out of our misery!
Well, you know what they say about size....
Thanks for the comments guys (and gal.) I don't believe I said this was THE perfect size, only MY perfect size. And I might limit it further to say, my perfect size for the next small group of paintings. And if you think about it, having a restriction (this time size) for different subjects can lead to some interesting compostions which might have been overlooked if one didn't have that constraint.
Anyway, see what you think. The next blog will be up Wed morning.
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