The realisation of small formats on paper prior to painting is fundamental in my search for pictorial freedom.

I have noticed that the creative process evolves in a more flexible and rapid way.

Nevertheless, I have understood that when making large canvases from small formats (which I call « études»), it is important to keep an open mind and not be afraid to deviate from the initial project. Sometimes the canvas version is very similar to the paper version but it can also be different (in terms of formal and chromatic composition).

This creative approach is taken by artists such as Josef Albers and Robert Motherwell in particular, who made huge canvases from tiny ink drawings with 2 or 3 "spots". There is also an extraordinary documentary on this subject in which Motherwell can be seen on a ten-metre canvas by looking at a drawing of a few square centimetres! ("Spanish Elegy" series)

Patrick Piccinelli, February 2021.