On Painting Big, what am I afraid of?

Why am I not painting big?  I just received an order for a dog portrait painting so large that I had to figure out the shipping before I could even give a quote.  Measured in FEET, not inches!  Which leads to the question of why am I not already painting large?  Is it fear?



Boxer Dog Portrait ACEO, 2.5" x 3.5"

THIS is my comfort level...inches, not feet.  When I started out 12 years ago, I was amazed and thrilled whenever I sold anything, and those anythings were ACEOs on Ebay.  I could NOT believe people actually spent their good money on something I did!

Well, hopefully I've gotten a little more confident.  But maybe not enough.  Other artists in my life have been challenging me on this.  Why do I think an 8" x 10" is big?  Why do I continue to offer small, and not large?  Well, I do offer large but have very few samples of large.  And not very large.

It's not like working small is easier.  In fact, it's harder to get good detail, hard on the eyes, hard on the back, scrunched over a table, etc. 

But I think it is a fear, and one I aim to get over in the next few months.  Fear of being too bold.  Fear of appearing too confident?  Fear of paying a little more for art supplies?  (I still tip my hat to the late artist on WetCanvas whose tag line was "Paint Like a Millionaire").

Fear that charging more means I price right out of EVERYONE'S market?

I am not sure.  But I have lots of paint, lots of big brushes and lots of everything else needed to paint large and I'm going to do it.

Watch me.

How's that for hubris?  YIKES!
Thanks for reading!  Robin