I love working large. Since starting encaustics, I haven't had the space to do a really large piece because they need to be worked on flat. After some experimenting, I decided to do 3 large wood panels that will connect together to create one painting. A triptych of sorts.
The panel were bought months ago. Something about the size and the blankness was intimidating. I wasn't sure where to start. A lot of artists do preliminary sketches but I don't like to work this way. To me, painting and drawing are 2 totally separate things. I like to draw, and I feel like the drawings feed into the paintings in a conceptual way.
Keith suggested that I start abstract. This is something I have done often enough. I will start a painting in an intuitive way and let the shapes suggest images to me. Kind of like looking at clouds. I decided to start this painting with a collage.
I didn't worry a lot about getting the collage "perfect" because a lot of it will be painted over when I start the painting. I love this part of the process- anything is possible at this point. The more choices I make, the narrower the path gets. In choosing one image, I reject other possibilities. This is the part of the process that keeps me intrigued. The paintings I like the most are always the ones I am working on.