There are a lot of reasons artists don’t finish paintings. Death, for one, such as in Vincent van Gogh’s “Street in Auvers-sur-Oise” unfinished from the June in 1980 that he shot himself. Lovely painting, horrible death.
Correction: According to the research of Pulitzer Prize-winning biographers Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith in their book published in 2011, the painter didn’t shoot himself, he was shot accidentally by thugs. I apologize for posting inaccurate information. Please read this following V. Note for slightly less inaccurate information about the topic.
Picasso, Woman in a Red Armchair, 1931
For most painters, starting a painting is infinitely easier than finishing one. With every brush stroke, the number of “right moves” diminishes – whereas at the beginning every move was a right move, half way through, problems begin to emerge, many times with solutions unknown. Completing a painting can be similar to solving a puzzle, and in a sense, though it is satisfying to solve a puzzle, the artist kills all the potentials it could have been, and the engaging relationship with with the work is over.
Personally, I prefer the unfinished paintings because I can see more of the making of it, the process. Not only can I see the artists’ thinking, but I can participate in it more. I also like the sustained, suspended daydream of what the painting could become, had things been a little different.
Right now at the Seattle Art Museum, there’s a show of Alberto Giacometti‘s artworks. His drawings, paintings, and sculptures will be on display at SAM until October 9th. This is the second in a series of posts about Alberto Giacometti, who lived from 1901 – 1966. In the days since my last post about Alberto Giacometti’s brother …
A lot of V. Note ideas wither because they are just one little thought or artwork, and I don’t have it in me to flush them out into a complete chapter. I’ve been thinking I should post more of these single notes. Here’s one: an automatic writing by Bruno Leyval. Automatic Writing/Drawing: writing or drawing produced without …
PROCESS UPDATE: It has been a delight to have our official “Artist Not In Residence” Patty Haller around the studios. She has been at the studio almost every day, and openly sharing her process with students and guests. Today, NPR news is playing from a little boombox on the floor. On the table, a single potted fern …
Above: A beautiful example of multi-layered blending by Sharon Kingston Blending The most common way to kill the vitality in a painting, blending is a smooth transition between two colors, painted when wet. This is difficult to do with acrylic because it dries so danged fast, so using a slow drying paint like Golden OPEN Acrylics might help. 3 Blending …
Unfinished Paintings
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Alice Neel, James Hunter Black Draftee
There are a lot of reasons artists don’t finish paintings. Death, for one, such as in Vincent van Gogh’s “Street in Auvers-sur-Oise” unfinished from the June in 1980 that he shot himself. Lovely painting, horrible death.
Correction: According to the research of Pulitzer Prize-winning biographers Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith in their book published in 2011, the painter didn’t shoot himself, he was shot accidentally by thugs. I apologize for posting inaccurate information. Please read this following V. Note for slightly less inaccurate information about the topic.
Picasso, Woman in a Red Armchair, 1931
For most painters, starting a painting is infinitely easier than finishing one. With every brush stroke, the number of “right moves” diminishes – whereas at the beginning every move was a right move, half way through, problems begin to emerge, many times with solutions unknown. Completing a painting can be similar to solving a puzzle, and in a sense, though it is satisfying to solve a puzzle, the artist kills all the potentials it could have been, and the engaging relationship with with the work is over.
Personally, I prefer the unfinished paintings because I can see more of the making of it, the process. Not only can I see the artists’ thinking, but I can participate in it more. I also like the sustained, suspended daydream of what the painting could become, had things been a little different.
Related Posts
Giacometti: More about Diego
Right now at the Seattle Art Museum, there’s a show of Alberto Giacometti‘s artworks. His drawings, paintings, and sculptures will be on display at SAM until October 9th. This is the second in a series of posts about Alberto Giacometti, who lived from 1901 – 1966. In the days since my last post about Alberto Giacometti’s brother …
Automatic writing by Bruno Leyval
A lot of V. Note ideas wither because they are just one little thought or artwork, and I don’t have it in me to flush them out into a complete chapter. I’ve been thinking I should post more of these single notes. Here’s one: an automatic writing by Bruno Leyval. Automatic Writing/Drawing: writing or drawing produced without …
Patty Haller in the Studio
PROCESS UPDATE: It has been a delight to have our official “Artist Not In Residence” Patty Haller around the studios. She has been at the studio almost every day, and openly sharing her process with students and guests. Today, NPR news is playing from a little boombox on the floor. On the table, a single potted fern …
Blending Techniques for Painters
Above: A beautiful example of multi-layered blending by Sharon Kingston Blending The most common way to kill the vitality in a painting, blending is a smooth transition between two colors, painted when wet. This is difficult to do with acrylic because it dries so danged fast, so using a slow drying paint like Golden OPEN Acrylics might help. 3 Blending …