Classical Oils for an Illustration?

[smellykitty]

this might sound like a stupid question, but I've got a set of illustrations I want to paint and I want to try to paint them in a classical manner *try*

I've never really worked in such a style before especially not in oils, but its the only style I want for these illustrations. But when I start to think of my favorite classical oil paintings of the renaissance and rococo period they all have one thing in common - scale :$ they're giant paintings!

can a smaller scale painting with smaller scale figures and classical oils mix? or is oils just better for larger scale?

[DavePalumbo]

scale is extremely relative, and a comfortable or apropriate scale depends much more on the artist's personal preference that the style or medium of painting. Scale also rarely shows with any amount of accuracy in a reproduction (the actual scale of pieces, larger or smaller than expected, can be very surprising when you see the original).

So personally, no, I don't think that painting something life sized is necessary to getting a classical look. Unless of course you just work more natural and comfortable at that size, in which case, you should. Try working small, try working large, see what works best. You should paint however feels right.

[dbclemons]

I'm often surprised at the scale of many paintings that I see in person, usually if they're smaller than I expected them to be.

[sweetoblivion314]

One thing to note is that back in the day there where many great artists who employed themselves as miniature painters. They would be hired by someone to make a scale copy of an original painting. One example is Rembrandt's Night Watch. There is a 1/36 scale miniature version of it painted only a year or so after the original and it was done in oils.

[Elwell]

can a smaller scale painting with smaller scale figures and classical oils mix?
Well, I guess you could call my work somewhat "classical" and my originals are almost never bigger than 24". It's just a matter of scaling your tools and markmaking to the relative size. When you say "illustrations," do you mean specifically pieces being done for reproduction, or just narrative paintings? If you're working for reproduction, then final print size is the important factor, and you should work at whatever multiple of that you are most comfortable with. If the final product is the actual painting, then scale becomes more important, since a large painting has a different presence than a smaller one.