In this week’s POTW we are going to take a different path and focus on a particular aspect of Scott McDermott’s composition technique, and that is scale.
McDermott’s works have elicited quite a response from most viewers due to his use of large scale pieces of wood for his canvases. McDermott states he loves to paint large for simple reasons: “I get to use larger brush strokes and larger motions, making strokes from the elbow, instead of the wrist.”
The rhino series is regal and imposing, the profiles of the beasts taking up the majority of the picture area. They wouldn’t speak the way they do if they weren’t as large as they are–almost lifelike.
Even larger are the two oil on wood paintings of motorcycle racers, Roger and Ben. These have impressed viewers for their sheer size and photorealistic qualities. If they aren’t life-size, then they are bigger. To paint such exciting content on anything smaller would be diminutive and go against their very theme of speed, loud sound and the smell of gasoline and tire rubber.
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