The Big White

Tuesday 5 August 2014, 2pm

Yesterday I picked up the Big White painting that I did in 2012 for Tom Spence. Tom had motor neurone disease and died last year. He didn’t have the capacity to paint it himself. His daughter Marni graciously allowed me to inherit it. It’s great to have it back as a memento of our friendship. It was one painting of many that were painted by Tom’s Friends and exhibited at Stanthorpe in 2012.

“White”

Tom came up with the composition and I painted it. It was the most ambitious work I had ever attempted and involved over 500 hours work. That’s three months non-stop of 12 hour days on average. 7000 triangles and 1.9 x 2.2 metres.

To speed things up, I painted each triangle in one thick coat (enamel) and used a longhaired lining (or coachpainting) brush, as used in pinstriping. Some images from its painting –

Early on. Staightedges used to lean into middle of painting -

Using the lining brush -

Centre circle finished -

A detail early on. Triangles are numbered so I don’t lose track of which tint to use -