Why Paint Vertically

One of the main questions I get is why do I need to paint standing up? Hi, I'm Katie Lydiard and I am here to address that very question, why is it important to paint standing up and why is it important to paint vertically? These are really fundamental questions that go way deeper than you would actually think that they do, but I'll explain why in a minute. So I have my easel set up here and this easel quite honestly, it very easily can be tipped in any direction, either forward or backward and it can be useful in some instances to be able to do that. But I keep mine very vertical and very perpendicular to the floor. The reason being is because if I do tip this and I'll demon straight that here. If I tip this back, then my visual angle to my canvas is going to be skewed. So I am going to be seeing this way a lot more and this way is going to be a lot closer to me. So the problem is is that I'll probably be kind of distorting my painting while I'm painting it. And I don't need to do that. I'll and I'll show you a great example of how that can be used for an advantage in some instances. But in painting, it's really a disadvantage. So one of the great ways to use distortion to your advantage is in Chuck art chalk artists are really great at this because they use that visual distortion, using the, you know, obviously the sidewalk to visually distort the image. So that when you see it from a particular angle, it looks correct. But if you aren't at that particular angle, it's obviously distorted. So it's the same idea that they're using that distortion of a, you know, horizontal plane to make something look correct while anywhere else that you view that from it will be incorrect. But since paintings are mostly viewed vertically, we need to be painting vertically so that there is no distortion within that piece. The other reason that it's so important to be painting vertically and painting standing is because then you're going to be backing up from your piece so that you can get a better sense of the piece as a whole. If you paint sitting down, you're more likely to pigeonhole into little areas. And that can also ultimately cause distortion within your piece because one area might be too small while in another area might eventually grow to fill in the gaps that the too small area created. So being able to back up and understanding that being on your feet allows you to constantly back up. I will oftentimes lay down a stroke back up and evaluate that stroke every single time go up, lay it down, back up, re evaluate um and then correct as needed. So I am constantly removing myself from my painting. I'm not falling in love deeply with any certain part and everything is kind of in flux constantly until the very end. So it's very important to be able to remove yourself and self critique by backing up and removing yourself from that painting. So I hope that this helps remind you to paint standing, even if it's just for a little bit, be able to try to push yourself if you can to paint standing and paint vertically. If you can't even paint standing paint vertically, so that there is the least amount of risk of distortion within your piece.