Mohamed  Hirji

The Massive Wave - Part 1

Jul 6, 2022

The Project

This post will provide the readers a rare glimpse into the artists mind as a painting evolves from its concept to its conclusion.

This project is a commission and is going to be the largest paintings thatI have painted.

A lady friend and one of the collectors of several of my paintings, recently approached me for the commission. She wanted to surprise her hubby with a gift of a large painting that was to hang on the wall above their bed.

Her requirements were that the painting have:

!) A large, dominant wave
2) Be painted on 3 panels (Triptych). The three panels would hang side by side
3) A cloudy sky with the sun peeking through the thick clouds
4) There be trees from theCanadian West Coast
5) The total painting dimensions be approximately 72" wide and 40" high.

Even though she liked watercolor as a medium, due to safety reasons, I convinced her that oil would be the medium of choice.

After several iterations,I settled on size and design that satisfied her requirements. Moreover, off the shelf canvas sizes that I chose would also be budget friendly.

The set up i came up with is as below. The centre canvas was going to be 24"X40" and the 2 side panels 20"X40" each. Each panel would be separated by a one inch gap.

The lady accepted the setup as I had designed, especially after I made a mockup with one of my paintings as the subject.I too was pleasantly surprised as to how good it looked. Hope you all agree.

Follow me as I continue with this project over the next couple of weeks. If you subscribe to my blog/newsletter, you will receive the future posts in your email inbox.

Thank you for following.

Mohamed Hirji