Behind the Scenes: Painting 4 Canvases at Once (Time-Lapse Video)

On Labor Day Weekend 2017, I challenged myself to put 4 canvases together and paint them all at once.

The Call to Adventure, 2017. acrylic on canvas, 8×8 inches. $45

What emerged was not so much a specific scene or a quadriptych in the true sense of the word, a four-part painting, but rather four parts of a larger cycle. I think this is going to be part of a series.

They Look Like Each Other

Crossing the Threshold, 2017. acrylic on canvas, 8×8 inches. $45

It took a long time to see where these were going. I started out with a vague sense of a horizon going across all four canvases, loosely connected to each other. Then I built up the canvases with color, and each one had a slightly different color scheme. Yet there are colors and textures that tie everything together. They all have a horizon line and have a warm color palette with flecks of gold throughout, with rough dabs of color around the edges of the canvas.

Part of Something Bigger

Belly of the Beast, 2017. acrylic on canvas, 8×8 inches. $45

It wasn’t until several days after I finished that I realized they were part of a much bigger set that I haven’t painted yet: The Hero’s Journey.

All great stories follow the Hero’s Journey pattern: the protagonist is called to an adventure, or to do something out of the norm, and resists, but is met with someone who helps him/her. They go through a series of trials, and ultimately confront “the Big Bad” and claim the ultimate reward, then return to their old world a changed person.

Summit, 2017. acrylic on canvas, 8×8 inches. $45

If you’re interested in purchasing one of these paintings, you can contact me directly and I can set up a PayPal invoice or a Square purchase link for you.