Well, I’ve never tried this before, but there is always a first time. The first bit of my new Italian project in fact consists of three canvases of identical format. As I began to think about just how I would tackle this, it struck me that because they are in effect three components of one picture it would be useful to work on them all together. Apart from anything else, I will be working with a very narrow pallet, but using very similar if not identical colours in all three items. The plan is to bring them all along together, so that there really is a sense that they are parts of a whole.
It has worked quite well so far. I wanted to use texture gels, and the use of these varies between each of the canvases. This is not a random variation, however, but a kind of development across the range. I have found it valuable to think about this as a single problem, rather than as three separate tasks.
As I bring the whole work forward it will be interesting to see how this new approach qualifies what I do in other respects.
Now that I’m getting wound up, however, it is becoming clear that I am going to need to work very hard to keep external distractions from taking over. It is important that I work consistently towards the Italian visit, and that I have questions to ask myself when I’m there.