Why Do You Paint Small?

Amerolusk asks: "Do you ever feel restricted by the small size of the travel sketchbook you use for these paintings? Do you feel working this small prevents you from being able to translate these techniques onto a larger canvas?" 

I do like to paint large too, but I'm in love with the small size. It's definitely an advantage when I'm hiking in the wilderness or improvising in tight spaces, such as museums, concert halls, or restaurants. The horizontal format translates well to my YouTube videos.

I am inspired by the tiny gouache paintings of Adolph Menzel and William Trost Richards, and the gemlike oil paintings of Ernest Meissonier and Charles Bargue. They put more information in a tiny miniature than most artists put on a large canvas. When you see those images in print or online, the size of the original doesn't matter. The only metric that matters is resolution.

It's like the difference between a Swiss watch and a grandfather clock. Both tell time. But one is intended to regulate the hearth and home, and the other is optimized for the mountain trail, the opera house, and the moonlit rooftop.