As a painter of larger works, it’s easy for me to forget the intimacy and jewel-like qualities of small pieces and assume they are simple, after all, if I’m painting canvases that are 4x4 or 4x6 FEET and larger! How difficult can it be to create a 6x6 INCH painting?

The answer is: “Harder than you think!”

The 6x6 inch canvas is a 36-square-inch surface, 64 times smaller than that of my typical 48x48 canvas. This has all kinds of effects. For one thing, I have to use smaller brushes. Imagine the difference between a brush tip the size of a ballpoint pen tip and a brush big enough to paint your living room wall. (I once used a kitchen bristle broom on a 72x72 inch canvas!) Below the first painting is 48x48 and the second is 12x12.

For another, I physically move much less - with arms and hands and with legs and feet - than when I work with a large canvas. I also have to be aware that the viewer’s perspective is very different: they have to stand much closer to the completed small work to truly see it in detail.

On small surfaces, I have always to be on guard against overworking that limited space. By that, I mean constantly adding or reworking details and, in the process, losing track of…the “big picture” of the small picture. The painting can end up being less than the sum of its parts.

But small paintings are not drudgery for me! Recently I rediscovered the challenges and joys of making small pieces. These included one of my smallest piece, a 5x5 inch work “Don’t Fence Me In” (which just sold).

I recently focused on 8x10 and 12x12 inch pieces, all framed and ready to hang. Four sold in one day!

But my smallest paintings are 4x4 inches and I have found suitably small frames for them also. You can see these right here SHOP — Gay P. COX