On My Way to Something Bigger

The start of a 36" X 72" painting. Charcoal sketch on brown paper (30 X 60 inches)

I REALLY liked painting Auro. I had a few more snap shots along that particular street and it gave me an idea. (one thing always leads to another). A painting, not necessarily of how the street was but how I want to see it. Taking the elements of Auro, and the street art and Tags along Santa Maria del Rosario I am planning a much larger painting. It's will be how the scene would feel if one were looking at it from across the street.

The walking figure, La Nonna, is a figure from a favorite painting of mine titled La Nonna. Nonna is a universal figure that one might see anywhere. In La Nonna (1) she is walking the sidewalks of  Venice. Here she is walking the sidewalks of Catania, Sicily. This sketch helped me determine the size and scale. I looked up the actual height and width dimensions of the Peugeot in order to scale the figure. At this point I am not certain where she'll be placed compositionally. 

The 30 X 6O" sketch didn't feel right. It still felt constrained to me.It was larger but not what I was feeling. I took a chance and cut my aluminum panel to 36 X 72" and that does feel right.Now I am contemplating some technical questions such as how to hang it. Should it and how would it be framed?

The aluminum panel is lighter than a cradled gesso panel. Also it's strong. The edges are rough and I'm not certain I want the edges to show but on the other hand it could be OK if the painting stood off the wall.  TIf it's not going to be framed I have to decide: do I attach hardware to the panel, how and what kind?

In the meantime I am painting other paintings. And so it goes.