My weekends work is a version of the sketches from last week. As a piece it's kind of surreal, and Steve my studio mate points out that the static pose of the central figure means the painting hasn't got the sense of movement that the sketches capture, and so some of the mystery is lost. He's right, and maybe that's adding to the sense of disquiet that the painting causes me.
Hah ! I see a pattern here - I'm beginnning to wonder if this is how I react to my work on completion - the joy's in the doing for me, and once done I want to improve on the result straight away. Interesting, though this time I really do think I could improve on it ( It's not necessarily finished). The figures aren't particularly modeled - I wanted to reveal the base texture and keep the composition incredibly simple... does it work or does it just look unfinished I wonder?
At the same time as working on this painting I was working on a commission for a book cover - all loose hot magenta and oranges - it was bizarre to switch back and forth - but a great contrast. I'd forgotten how much fun it is multi tasking on paintiings simultaneously.
When is art ever finished eh! Knowing when to stop is always a tricky thing and highly subjective IMO.
ReplyDeleteWell my friend, it obviously wasn't finished... and some might say I didn't know when to stop. ( 'Till I'd taken it beyond the point of no return) But I guess as artists we know huh, when it's more about the chorus being crap than the guitar being out of tune... same deal indeed. Subjective indeed (or sabotage) !
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