Immersive Scale

In May 2025 I met a wonderful couple at the Affordable Art Fair in Hampstead London. They were looking for an artwork to fill a special place in their beautiful house which was under construction. The brief - a treescape measuring around 3 x 3m, to reflect their nearby countryside, and the project was to be shipped to Belgium.

My first challenge was to find a bigger studio, I was also moving house so I was lucky to have a friend who not only had a beautiful cottage to stay in, but also an amazing new space: a converted 17c barn. It was an amazing opportunity to work in such a special space, but before I started any work I had to cover all the oak and stone so as not to get paint anywhere.

Once the clients had agreed the size, which ended up being 2.15x3.10m, I arranged for the canvas to be made. Most canvas fabric is manufactured to a width of 2.15m which didn't leave any stretch length. Luckily there are specialists who can accommodate larger lengths, but the canvas was to arrive unprimed. Not a huge problem, but it added 3 days to my schedule. I had a specific window of time based on how long I could use the studio so I was planning each stage carefully. I work on black so to save time I used a black prime, allowing me to combine priming and underpainting.

During this preparation I had sketched a series of compositions for the clients to allow them to choose thier favourite. Each sketch included elements required by the clients and I had photoshopped the compositions into the intended hanging space. The painting was to be hung high in a double height space and would be seen from a number of viewpoints, so it was important that the painting worked from all aspects. Additionally, rather than work from one source image, I used a variety of inspirations, including photos supplied by the client and photos of woods I had taken in the UK. They picked the most difficult one...

The next stage was gridding the canvas to make scaling easier for me. I used string covered in chalk to snap lines against the canvas, but ended up keeping the string on too, it was much easier to see. With ladder and stool, I was set to start the sketch. I used a pastel pencil as I usually do, and worked my way slowly around the canvas. The original sketch had areas left unresolved to allow me to make additions and changes as the effect of the scale became apparent.

Rather than paint using the same size mark as usual , I decided to use a larger brush. An obvious choice maybe with a much larger canvas, but I had to pay careful attention to the illusion of the marks and take in account the distance that the clients would be from the canvas once it was hung. Too small a mark and the painting would lose energy and gain too much detail. Too big and the painting might disintegrate, the illusion not convincing. I am very attached to my usual brush but the brand didn't go bigger. So I needed to test different brushes: I would put this up there as one of my most frustrating challenges, if I didn't like the feel of the brush I wouldn't be able to paint. After a few misses, I found two brushes that worked for me, creating slightly different sized marks that are probably only visible to me! I also found that one of the brushes performed better if I left it in water overnight!

The painting took about 2-3 weeks. Some days I was able to work 5-7 hours, some days only 2....some days not at all...just considering the canvas. I followed my usual process of painting the trees first and foliage second. I had one tree that was pretty problematic when I realised my composition had a unconvincing perspective. When I find a mistake like that I don't do anything straight away. It was important working on this scale that any critical changes and decisions were made with as much information of the canvas as possible, so I worked further until a solution started forming.

In fact I made final changes to the painting the night before the clients flew in for the reveal, after it had been completed for over a week. It's a good call - let a painting settle and become a stranger for a few days and upon returning to it you will see immediately what needs doing. In this case it was a couple of areas I never liked but I was too nervous to change them in case I made them worse. I knew I couldn't let a painting that size (and a commissioned piece) go with any areas I didn't totally love, so after a few days' meditation I had the absolute confidence to make the adjustments. Sometimes you have to just trust yourself.

The reveal was exciting, truly, the clients were thrilled and I felt like we had really created this together. When planning a commission with clients, the first thing to do is to make sure you understand their language. A request for 'more light' may mean darker shadows rather than lighter colours. You must also guide the client, as the artist you have a resposnsibility to push back if you need to, using your experience to help the client to develop their ideas practically. As it happens, the clients were extremely art literate, learning was a mutual process and it felt very natural.

The painting was put in storage until the clients' house was ready, and then specialist art couriers picked up the painting in March, building a crate for transport a couple of weeks later to Belgium. My biggest regret is that I wasn't able to be present for delivery and hanging. The clients kindly sent photos and I am planning to see it in place later in the year. I am overwhelmed by it's final placement in such a fabulous home, in such a commanding position.

Painting this commission was one of my favourite experiences as an artist, as many commissions are. I had a beautiful environment to work in, I lived on maltesers and Pad Thai pot noodles, and thoroughly enjoyed solving the puzzles as the painting evolved. I have always been attracted to large scale and it really is only commissions that allow you to work this big.

I am extremely grateful and thankful to have been selected and trusted by the clients to create such an important statement piece in their stunning home.