Sunday, August 4, 2013

In the Studio: August 3, 2013

Here are some works in the studio this week. The large canvases are 3 x 5 feet each and both oils have been around awhile. The one at the upper left was started / finished about 3-4 years ago. From time to time I would rework it, improving it each time, but never taking it as far as I hoped. As I improved as an artist, I could bring more experience to the canvas and now is is almost complete. I'm very happy with this version and much has been learned along the way.

The work on the easel was once a finished work that looked very different from what you see now. The original image needed more strength so I scumbled over the entire top half of the canvas with arbitrary colors to make a new stand of trees, letting the original red background show through in places. It became a much stronger image instantly but not a very believable one.

Then a wonderful thing happened. The same thing is happening to the cloud canvas on the floor. left. I wasn't sure what to do next with these works but I left them out for viewing. When I into the studio fresh in the mornings  I was surprised to see that the paintings had improved. They were painting themselves! I simply put a little distance between my expectations and the works as they actually are. Now I can better decide what is good about the work and what needs more attention.

I hope you have a number of good works busily painting themselves as well !

2 comments:

  1. Thanks Ken! This is such an important part of painting that I think many artists forget about. Letting them sit when you know you need to do so. They do work on themselves... our fresh eyes are so important to a piece of art.

    It really would have been fun to see the previous version and then how this one looks to see what the improvement was. I thoroughly enjoy looking at my photos and seeing the progression when this type of thing happens ... the before and after!

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