Dig this!

I recently completed a study called Night roadwork and I announced at the end of the post that I intended to make a larger version of it. This is done now.

Dig this! - Oil on canvas (40 x 40 cm) by Benoit Philippe

The twist I was thinking about was to use the canvas in a non-conventional way. The idea came to my mind by association of ideas. The theme of the painting is roadwork and, as I was holding my square canvas, I thought about road signs, which led me to shift the position of the canvas by 45 degrees to turn my square into a diamond canvas. I will choose a flat frame to mimic the border of a road sign.

Securing the canvas onto the easel was possible, but I had to be gentle on the canvas or to hold the side of the canvas with my hand if I wanted to paint more vigorously.

Oil painting Digger painting Roadwork painting