There have been many times I don’t know when to stop painting a picture. Sometimes, like with this Circus Acts painting it took me 7 years to start.
Having re-baselined my Circus Acts canvas over the last few days, getting composition and the final characters ready, in acrylic paint before I start the major oil paint operation (see main image of this post), I have come to really like my 3 tone characters. It makes me think that maybe they should all just be in monochrome colours. The rawness of the painting as it stands tonight; lent up against my easel makes me smile. I like the lines of chalk that I scrapped on to remind me where the light is coming from and the characters are pretty easy on the eye to consume.
Last night a friend of mine said she really liked one of my paintings of Sydney Harbour. I am always surprised when anyone says they like this particular painting as for years I wasn’t ever sure if I really finished the picture. It was in 2007 when I painted this Sydney Harbour scene. I didn’t like the painting and I was 100% sure it wasn’t complete but I didn’t know what else to do to finish. So I put it away, allocating it to the ‘Unfinished’ pile of paintings.
After years of not liking the painting I gazed at it again a year ago and decided I actually mostly liked it. I hung it up on my wall and there it remains today. Not perfect but finished nonetheless. When I look at it now it reminds me of my skills back then. I look at it and I think of the things I would do now if I was to do it again but I leave it be because it is finished, it was finished in 2007. It would feel like cheating to improve something I finished 8 years ago. I’m happy with it and lucky for me a couple of people even like it!
I trust more in my instincts now then I did back then. Now when I cant think of anything I else I can do to improve, I know that its time to stop. I put down my brushes and allocate it to the ‘Finished and Did My Best’ pile of paintings.
I looked on the internet tonight for tips on “how to know when to stop painting” and I got all sorts of websites giving advice like “watch out for muddy colours” and “get rid of your reference pictures and step back to look at it as a stand alone piece”. I think that advice is useless because it assumes everyone has the same perception of muddy colours and that artists can actually take an objective view of their own work (impossible I reckon – what do you think? Are you an artist? How do you look upon your own work before or after it is finished?).
When is a painting finished?
Nothing is ever really finished because as artists live, grow and learn we do more, do better, do different. So knowing when to finish a piece of art can only ever be decided by the artist at that specific point in time. A different day = a different finish.
Is my raw circus painting finished? No way! I will continue the Circus Acts painting for now as I have so many more ideas to bring to life on this canvas. Watch this space!
