I paint fun little non serious…but even I have to exert some self discipline. I find if I have any trouble whatsoever with the piece I’m doing, I will go make coffee, do some laundry, other chores…and the day is spent. Lots of those have produced a good sized pile of not finished paintings.
And then I made myself work through the same type of days and keep painting and a beautiful painting is born. Once I realized that was even a possibility, I made myself stay in the chair and keep painting. Some work out, some end up in the garbage. But problem solved, joy once again flows!
I also work through it Sunny. As you say…some end in the garbage but others are reborn. Tonight I will look through my little pile of not finished paintings and get working on them in the morning.
I’ve worked as a commercial artist for more years than I care to disclose. Deadlines override discipline in the arena so in order to get paid you have to be dsiciplined. But in making fine art you’re on your own with nobody to crack the whip but yourself. I find it difficult to stay with a piece especially if it begins to get difficult. Frequent breaks seem to work for me, but then I don’t think I get as much done. So it goes…
I’m working through this right now. I want to apply for one of the major pastel shows and the deadline is coming up. I need to finish 3 paintings, so I do have to stay with them. I want to say one thing though - it helps me to take a short break from a painting, whether it’s a coffee break or putting it aside and working on something else for a day. When I get back to it again, I have “fresh” eyes and more likely to see what’s not working.
Fresh eyes lanaballot! I have worked on something, think I hate this, this is a pooper. Walk away and come back the next day and love it with one needed tweak. Partly because the paint has done its thing which is magical but also due to my fresh eyes! Nothing gives me them except at least a 24 hour break.
Exactly! Though sometimes it goes the other way - I work on something for too long and my mind starts finishing the picture for me before it’s actually done. So after a break I can see where more work is needed.
You got me thinking about picking up unfinished older work now. Some stuff I once thought had potential but then got abandoned anyway (for whatever reason).
It’s worth a shot, no?
Worst that can happen is that I learn it’s not worth to try
Do you people ever continue painting on work that has been standing against the wall for months or even years?
I’ve done that with a few of my older unfinished paintings. One actually got me a 1st place in a local show after that, so it’s definitely worth a try. We learn more as we paint more so we might now see the solution we have not seen before. I also think it’s never a waste of time - you will always learn something from that.
Two paintings I recall (of about 60 or so I’ve painted in two years) were, at one stage in their development, what I call ‘disasters’ and ‘unrecoverable’ - the more I did, the worse they got.I had to stand back and leave them A LOT, have sleepless nights, and fight like crazy to keep going with them. When I finally ‘made good’ with them and they were ‘finished’ I hated them - because they reminded me of all the angst I went through to create them. But one is my best seller in cards, and the other I sold after 1 week of being displayed in an exhibition (thank God - if it had come home again I don’t know what would have happened to it - even though it was one of my favourites).
So maybe it is worth it to attempt to recover what I as the artist deemed a failure at one stage (though I did paint over about a further four works - but these were ones that I just didn’t like what I ended up with - not the ones I spent hours and hours and hours battling with to get how I wanted them).
As a result of the above, when I find myself there again with a painting, I do tend to keep trying to get it ‘right’ (in my head) rather than give it up completely - even if I only touch it once a week. Especially since selling that last one that I pulled out my hair on.
I’ve been sick for a long time and I thought that maybe joining this group and posting a painting a week might help me get my mojo back as I recover, #discipline. I’m not really at a painting a day, but my lofty goal is one per week and to earn enough money to keep purchasing supplies. At the moment working on 8x8 panels with the keyhole cut into the back w/ acrylics. It’s hard to keep up though because I have a small window in which I have enough energy to do anything and by then dishes have stacked up, laundry, or I just want to go outside for a walk. But am really going to try to get my thing a week painted up.
I wanted to drop in and say hello. I read a lot of suspicion of new folks – I get it – the Internet groan Ugh. Anyway, “hi” – I’m on Facebook but that’s a nightmare these days. When you don’t feel well it’s just too much drama and bad energy.
Anyway - Hello, glad to be here and I think your artwork rocks.
One painting that caused me great frustration and I felt very “meh” about ended up getting me a third place award on the DPW contest, a “Best of Show” at a local contest and did well elsewhere. You could have knocked me over with a feather. I struggled with it and just thought ‘meh’ when I was done with it. You never know. Just keep on going!
Hi Paula! I’m new here, too (and I’m a real person, too! )…nice to meet you. Hope this site helps you get rolling with your painting again! The vibe I get from here is actually, more like, 'we’re too busy painting to have too much conversation with other artists"… dunno if that is really true?! Community is important to us artists, well, to me, anyways and it is nice to have a place to go and chat with someone who might understand when that painting is not going so well or whatever or to ‘talk shop’. I do maintain an active blog, however, and I do worry about stuff like that ‘eating’ my art time, so I do also wonder about how much community is too much, as well.
I agree, the art on here is totally awesome…so many of you guys are so dedicated and technically accomplished - it’s really inspiring!!
)…nice to meet you. Hope this site helps you get rolling with your painting again! The vibe I get from here is actually, more like, 'we’re too busy painting to have too much conversation with other artists"… dunno if that is really true?! Community is important to us artists, well, to me, anyways and it is nice to have a place to go and chat with someone who might understand when that painting is not going so well or whatever or to ‘talk shop’. I do maintain an active blog, however, and I do worry about stuff like that ‘eating’ my art time, so I do also wonder about how much community is too much, as well.