Yesterday, I was working away in the studio on several different projects. One of them was trying to decide what to do about one particular artwork. It was a charcoal and pastel portrait that has been sitting there for a few weeks. I didn't like it. It was overworked, had a somewhat awkward composition, and had been a fight since the very beginning. The young woman who was the subject had liked it. So, rather than trash the artwork right away, it sat in a corner for a while. Maybe I'd give it to her. Maybe I shouldn't. I kept kicking the decision down the road.
I trashed it yesterday.
That's not the first time. Actually, I trash a fairly large proportion of my works, maybe 50%. Which brings up the question, why? Why throw away something that has a lot of time and effort put into it, especially when somebody appreciates it? Why throw away so much work?
Well, I look at something and ask myself, would I be willing to exhibit that work? Exhibiting something means that I'm comfortable with putting my name on an artwork and telling the world, "this is what I can do". If it doesn't meet that standard, there are two choices: change it or destroy it. Otherwise, it's just another substandard thing that's cluttering up my studio, and trust me, I have enough things cluttering up my studio right now. Hell, I could put on three simultaneous shows of my own work at any one time. So adding stuff that I wouldn't want others to see is not something I want to do.
Regarding changing an artwork, yes, I do that sometimes. Usually it fails, but it works out occasionally. A successful change requires me to get into the right mindset. It sounds corny, but I have to be "one with the painting", meaning the painting and my brain have to be in synch. If not, it'll be a failure. The painting also has to have an underlying composition that works and a subject that's interesting. Just like you can't fix a house with a bad foundation, you can't fix a painting that has a bad composition.
And if I decide a painting has failed? Two options. One, sand it down and then slap a coat of oil primer on it. That gives me a new blank canvas. Or, if I've already done that a time or two and have decided that this particular canvas is jinxed, it goes into the trash.
And, as for that young woman who liked the artwork that I later destroyed, well, sorry. Even if I gave it to her, I'd know that there was a substandard piece of art out there with my name on it. That's intolerable.
And, yeah, I'll probably give her one of the other artworks where she's the subject ...
I trashed it yesterday.
That's not the first time. Actually, I trash a fairly large proportion of my works, maybe 50%. Which brings up the question, why? Why throw away something that has a lot of time and effort put into it, especially when somebody appreciates it? Why throw away so much work?
Well, I look at something and ask myself, would I be willing to exhibit that work? Exhibiting something means that I'm comfortable with putting my name on an artwork and telling the world, "this is what I can do". If it doesn't meet that standard, there are two choices: change it or destroy it. Otherwise, it's just another substandard thing that's cluttering up my studio, and trust me, I have enough things cluttering up my studio right now. Hell, I could put on three simultaneous shows of my own work at any one time. So adding stuff that I wouldn't want others to see is not something I want to do.
Regarding changing an artwork, yes, I do that sometimes. Usually it fails, but it works out occasionally. A successful change requires me to get into the right mindset. It sounds corny, but I have to be "one with the painting", meaning the painting and my brain have to be in synch. If not, it'll be a failure. The painting also has to have an underlying composition that works and a subject that's interesting. Just like you can't fix a house with a bad foundation, you can't fix a painting that has a bad composition.
And if I decide a painting has failed? Two options. One, sand it down and then slap a coat of oil primer on it. That gives me a new blank canvas. Or, if I've already done that a time or two and have decided that this particular canvas is jinxed, it goes into the trash.
And, as for that young woman who liked the artwork that I later destroyed, well, sorry. Even if I gave it to her, I'd know that there was a substandard piece of art out there with my name on it. That's intolerable.
And, yeah, I'll probably give her one of the other artworks where she's the subject ...
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