I have found that about half the people who wander into my studio don't seem to be too worried about the size of the artwork they're considering purchasing. They have a general idea of what might look correct and from photos they send me of my painting installed on their wall, they're often spot on when it comes to the size of the artwork. The other half of my clients go home and measure their walls. That may be really helpful to avoid a mistake. I've had people tell me they've cut pieces of cardboard to different sizes and tacked them up to the wall. That's a great idea. The other option is to enlist my help with sizing. In this case, my client sends me a photo of the wall in question along with some basic dimensions, and then I take the photo into Photoshop and insert different sizes of gray rectangles on the wall, so my client can see a variety of proportions and sizes. Either way, cardboard or Photoshop can help you visualize exactly what a specific size painting would look like on your wall.
So how do you figure out what size is really best for your space? It kind of depends on a few things. First of all, how big is the wall and what other art is already installed on it? You might consider a small piece of art as an accent piece. An accent piece works best when it contains the complementary color of the main color in the room. It can also be much brighter in color than you'd want in a larger piece. Think of a gemstone on a black velvet background. An accent piece can scream at you "LOOK AT ME!" and that works because it's small.
Or you might need a stand alone piece above a bed or couch. In that case, the size of the bed or couch would determine the optimal size of the painting installed above it. I always recommend choosing artwork that's just a bit smaller than the width of the piece of furniture it's hanging above. If it's too large, it will look ridiculous (see above photo).
The other (and uh...my favorite) option is to choose a very large "heart stopper" piece of art on a large wall. This sort of artwork should be a real "statement piece". Where the accent piece can shout at the viewer, the statement piece should sing (very loudly). The size and the subject matter should work together to produce an emotional response. I once had a 6' x 8' painting hanging in the back of my studio, and I could always tell when a studio visitor rounded the corner because I'd hear things like "Oh...my...gosh" followed by silence as they just stood there. I love that! That's exactly what I wanted when I painted that piece.
So what do you want? What do you need when you consider artwork for your home? Whether it's small, medium, large or gigantic...talk to me. We can figure something out that works best with your specific wall and color scheme.
