I always say it. Half the battle of making art, or anything, is knowing when you are done.
Case in point: I made the painting on the left last week… but then rather then just call it quits at this very moment when I stopped to take a freaking picture, I added to it. More and more and more. And it turned into a stonewall gray mess. And then a friend of mine who is a graffiti artist popped in, so we just had fun playing with the spray bottles and the different tips. Fun, but shitty.
So painting on left doesn’t exist anymore. And now we have crappy painting on right. Which maybe I will just leaving hanging in the studio and let everyone that comes in to visit me tag it or something…. that could be fun.
So yea, KNOW WHEN TO CALL IT A DAY. It’s the difference between good and horrible.
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um..i like after better. is that so wrong?
Not at ALL! The painting on the right was fun to make and is a living work in progress. and I wasn’t so happy with the one on the left, thats why I kept working on it and working on it until it got destroyed. I just wish they existed on two separate canvases and that I didn’t kill one to get the other!
One of the very hardest things to do! Also you have given us the perfect examples, I adore the painting on the left; though there certainly may be many who love the one on the right.
The one I love makes my heart sing and my eyes brightened as soon as I saw it!
xoxo
Karena
Art by Karena
y is ms pac man crying?
Funny, this is a lesson I should learn for my makeup. I get to a point where I look halfway decent but I can’t stop. It’s like, “lets try the neon lip trend AND the winged eyeliner trend. And I think I need more bronzer. And fake eyelashes.” Before you know it I’m looking like a drag queen.
Thats one problem I DONT have. Im so not good at makeup. And I need to start learning to be!
I agree. this applies to everything. i have this problem with my mouth. that’ a little harder to edit
I think I have it with my mouth too!
According to De Kooning a painting is all about taking it as far as it can go. Therefore never feel bad for ruining it in that process, you can’t achieve greatness if you don’t push the limits. You obviously felt you could have made it better and so you tried it and didn’t like it. Being “done” is when you’ve taken it as far as you believe it can go and there’s nothing left to improve on.
I obviously can’t argue with De Kooning, BUT I do think its important to train your eye to know when the painting can’t be improved upon. Here, you are right, I did feel like it felt unfinished. But I didn’t think it through enough and then got frustrated so I destroyed it and started spraying. The moment right before the spray paint was such a sad and defeated one.
Sometimes I walk away from a painting, thinking its still unfinished and that I will return to it. The next day it sometimes feels like the painting is more whole and that I just didn’t see it the day before. So taking a breather from a piece is some good advice I’m going to give myself…
PS Id love to see some of your work!
Hey Nicole – I just wanted to say, I love the before version of the painting, even though that’s not what it ended up being in the end. It feels a bit different than some of the work you post, and I really like the colours and the movement. Keep on doing your thing
Fun idea to have a studio ‘guest book’ with the after… could end up being amazing.
Maybe just put the painting out of sight for a few days and come back to it later with fresh eyes. It might be just 5 minutes away from being a masterpiece. It’s the struggles and challenges that will make this piece amazing in the end.
i like them both!
I agree with you Nicole. Knowing when to stop is key and walking away and coming back with fresh eyes can make all the difference. Can you recreate another version of #1? It might be just what you are looking. Who knows may be you could do a series of both paintings and work out whatever you were feeling…
Learning when to stop in art……sounds easy enough……but of course your always thinking you are one brush stroke away from genius!!! I think there is good in both…..the second one is definitely more dark and edgy…..
Oooor you could just sell the painting 2 me!
) I actually Love the “after”-painting 
)
XoX // Perfection Makes Me Yawn
It fits my alias quite well…
I love the tag idea- its like of like an artists guest book!
Oh my gosh, I hate it when that happens. I did the same thing a few months ago. I literally ended up painting completely over it, cutting it up in weird shapes…yeah, it was so bad.