Do you know if your painting is finished?
Do you know if your painting is finished? Me always… till two days ago.
There is always hope, 80 x 60 cm, acrylic on canvas
I started with a clear image in my head – a forest scene with a mass of dark trees and an earthy black-brown path in its centre which leads into a small but blinding light. The normal process for me is to first make a little pencil sketch on paper, sometimes I add some flecks of colour as a reminder for myself which tones I want to choose. The next step is preparing the canvas. For the forest scene I coloured the complete canvas in shades of brown, red and grey. Then I make a rough sketch on the canvas with a light grey watercolour pencil, so that I could remove the sketch if necessary.
Now I add colour. I work generally very fast because I use thick, pastose acrylic paint, which dries up much faster than for example oil paint (I sadly get headaches from the turpentine odour)
For this painting I started with the earthy shades of the pathway, continued with the light in the centre and all the sunbeams which would be visible behind the trees. I added some detail to the path, to hint at its mix of dead leaves, earth, and stones. Next up was the foliage with its black-green mass behind and around the trees. At this stage I normally let the painting dry and would later proceed with the more foreground motives. But this time I just wanted to see how the dark trees in brown black colour would harmonise with the already brown base coat of the canvas, so I painted some of the trees… just as a test….and then it happened: I had the feeling that this painting is finished, although I had a different plan, although there were parts of the sketch still visible, although I only finished the left part of the background foliage.
in this detail you can see some remains of the gray sketch beneath the trees and you can see some of the brown-red base coat
And the fact that I cannot tell you precisely why I think this painting is finished unnerved me. Before I encountered this feeling, I would have told you, that I know when my paintings are finished, because I have a precise plan / image in my mind and when this plan / image is implemented all is perfect and finished. But today, I must admit, this was self-deception. As I stated above I do not make extensive or detailed sketches or pre-paintings before I tackle the real work. So perhaps my mind only fooled me into believing that the finished artwork was the exact image I had in my mind…. I always know when to stop, but I do not seem able to explain why.
Do you have criterions when to finish? Do you rework paintings (I was amazed as an fellow artist told me she often paints for weeks on a painting and reworks her older paintings. I just paint mine white, If I do not like them anymore – means: killing the painting) Are you always sure your work is finished?
By the way, this is simultaneously my entry for @juliakponsford #artexplosion contest with the theme light – thank you @juliakponsford for organizing this <3
Thank you for entering the contest well done it looks like a dream. I usually know when my work is done when I can't look at it anymore :)
I had to laugh :-D This is a good criterion, how to decide if its finished.
I admire people who can draw. I can bake and decorate cakes, to bead, to do handmade gifts, but not to draw. I only know how to redraw. The teacher often put me two grades in school during drawing lessons - first for the idea, second for execution. The idea was always better)))
I do another kind of work, but if I hate the result - I'm undone. Sometimes I need to postpone work, then to look at it again
I have a good friend who teaches art for adults and she always tells me, that her participants have no ideas what to draw... I could never understand this, why should I draw if I have no idea for an image? So, I think you are an artist and yes you can draw! Maybe you have to practise, so that your technique is on an equal level as your idea, but!!!!! in my opinion the idea and the wish to be creative counts. Perfect technique without idea is (for me) completely uninteresting. And I am a strong self-critic too (your comment lets me think you are criticising yourself harshly). If you ask me, if I can paint or draw or dance or film or anything, I would always find mistakes in my work and on a bad day I would say “no – I can’t”. But I do it nevertheless :-D Because I love the process and in the process of working I am convinced, that my idea must become reality.
So, now I am curious and will check out your profile in hope of finding beautiful cakes (I love them!)
Thanks for the response! I think you're right. If you want to do something - you need to start. Try myrself in drawing)
Photo cakes will appear, but the photo is more amateur than professional. But the cakes and everything, what I do, is done with love!
P.s. I follow you) Critics should stick together)))
I love the impressionistic quality of this, i always have a hard time deciding when my work is finished too, I think all artists have this problem! Thanks for joining!
Most of my paintings have this "impressionistic" quality during the painting process, but mostly in the background. Normally I go on with the painting and some parts of the work get more realistic
As statet above, this time I simply stopped to paint further... :-D
For me it is only a feeling, that the painting is finished (I don't like this, I want a rational explanation), how do you know when to stop?
(and thanks for your good artexplosion themes, for me they are perfect)
Lately I know. I know the moment I am satisfied with result and I stop messing with it to not to over do it and kill it, because I tried too hard. Does that make any sense? :)
Nice work with this one.
Yes absolutely. But as I wrote in the post, I am curious which cues trigger this "gut-feeling". I could not identify them for myself. I simply "know" if the painting is finished, but if someone would ask me why, i cannot explain it... sigh.
And thank you for the praise :-)