How much 'negative' space is too much?

[Joan Breckwoldt]

Hi Alexandra,

Thank you for your thoughtful reply. I understand all the math that you're talking about! It's exactly what I do, except I, as you said, am dealing with prestretched canvas. I did stretch a few some years ago, but that was putting the cart before the horse. I need to spend my time practicing my painting, not stretching canvas. So for now, I'm using prestretched.

I had a 16" x 20" for this portrait, but today went and got a 20" x 24". I think there is going to be too much space around her on that size canvas. Sometimes 2" abolve the head seems too little, but then 10" would be too much. I guess I'm trying to push the limits to see how much space I can put around the figure without the figure seeming lost.

I really like your method of deciding on the canvas size in a smaller scale, then enlarging all your measurements. I go to Kinko's and make enlargements of my photos (200 % today!) and then come home and lay them out on the different canvas sizes. Your way sounds easier!

Yesterday I went into my daughters room with a measuring tape and measured her face, chin to hairline. I had just read a long post on the forum about head size. My daughter says "What are you doing?" and I told her I was measuring her head for her portrait. (I wanted to make sure my painting was less than life size). And she answered, "only in this house!". I guess measuring your kids' head isn't something that happens in every home!

I will play with the borders/negative space and see just how much is too much. This thread started because on another thread Linda Brandon mentioned that she liked a lot of space around her figures, if I understood her correctly. That's when I started thinking about the "how much is too much" question.

thanks,

Joan