Something that had been going on in the background for awhile.Is the ground of my paintings.Lately I have morphed from making tons of little sketches
etc.
To trying to bring that same fast freshness to larger canvases.
Primarily 40x30".
A thing my little 5x7" sketches have that the larger ones lacked is lovely brushy grounds
made by one layer of color applyed with a 3" chip brush.
A 3" chip on the larger surface would be too activeI tried an 8 inch brush, it was hard to find a chip brush with the coarse bristle in that size,
a nylon brush with had a soft bristle and did not leave the desired strie.
I ordered 8" chip brushes from China.
they were cheap but took a month to arrive.
they were surprisingly nice brushes but not actually 8".
![](/sites/default/files/styles/blog_rotate/public/f55acaed-1cb9-436a-b120-35601558baeb.jpeg?itok=QL9HZ8Aj)
I'm sure there's a joke in there.I ordered more from a different Chinese company, so we'll see next month.Meanwhile I made a new tool, joining two of the brush heads into a giant paddle brush.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/blog/public/ddf52e4f-af8e-4394-bb6e-88c108fb5820.jpeg?itok=IprwNEW-)
They've already been put to use priming two 30x40" canvases and worked great!!
It's a subtle variation that will hopefully give more life and breath to the larger work.
It's funny to get super excited over this detail, I am, & love the new brush!
![](http://www.bicyclepaintings.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumb_width_scale/public/02_405.jpg?itok=dZfbx4G9)
![](http://www.bicyclepaintings.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumb_width_scale/public/05_251.jpg?itok=CNZ88_Pn)
![](http://www.bicyclepaintings.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumb_width_scale/public/13_85.jpg?itok=4AaVmoEs)
To trying to bring that same fast freshness to larger canvases.
Primarily 40x30".
A thing my little 5x7" sketches have that the larger ones lacked is lovely brushy grounds
made by one layer of color applyed with a 3" chip brush.
A 3" chip on the larger surface would be too activeI tried an 8 inch brush, it was hard to find a chip brush with the coarse bristle in that size,
a nylon brush with had a soft bristle and did not leave the desired strie.
I ordered 8" chip brushes from China.
they were cheap but took a month to arrive.
they were surprisingly nice brushes but not actually 8".
![](/sites/default/files/styles/blog_rotate/public/f55acaed-1cb9-436a-b120-35601558baeb.jpeg?itok=QL9HZ8Aj)
I'm sure there's a joke in there.I ordered more from a different Chinese company, so we'll see next month.Meanwhile I made a new tool, joining two of the brush heads into a giant paddle brush.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/blog_rotate/public/ce710a81-531a-4841-9b63-6d362a61d85d.jpeg?itok=yXRDFPBr)
![](/sites/default/files/styles/blog_rotate/public/600ac058-4647-41a5-9275-e3e96d3343de.jpeg?itok=kOVU4vAY)
![](/sites/default/files/styles/blog/public/ddf52e4f-af8e-4394-bb6e-88c108fb5820.jpeg?itok=IprwNEW-)
They've already been put to use priming two 30x40" canvases and worked great!!
It's a subtle variation that will hopefully give more life and breath to the larger work.
It's funny to get super excited over this detail, I am, & love the new brush!