Busytinsnips Blog
WHEN IS IT FINISHED?
Lost A Big Shoe Birdman! Vs Birdman Becoming
Leonardo da Vinci declared, "Art is never finished, only abandoned."
I'm not sure about that but I do know that I struggle and agonize over some pieces of work and return to them sometimes several years after they were once declared finished. Most of the time my sense of completion is a purely intuitive one. I just instinctively know that it is finished and sign it off and never touch it again.
Nearly all of my paintings start with a colour, mark or line and develop from there. There is a process of adding and removing, applying and covering until a concept, composition or idea emerges, evolves and becomes complete. All well and good until doubt creeps in. The doubt may be may be rooted in a lack of self-confidence, the ability to see with objectivity, or the alluring idea that something more might make the painting better.
I finished the picture on the left in November 2017, named it Lost A Big Shoe Birdman! and showed it in my exhibition Exit From Coaltown at Summerhall, Edinburgh (November 2017 - January 2018).
I'm not sure about that but I do know that I struggle and agonize over some pieces of work and return to them sometimes several years after they were once declared finished. Most of the time my sense of completion is a purely intuitive one. I just instinctively know that it is finished and sign it off and never touch it again.
Nearly all of my paintings start with a colour, mark or line and develop from there. There is a process of adding and removing, applying and covering until a concept, composition or idea emerges, evolves and becomes complete. All well and good until doubt creeps in. The doubt may be may be rooted in a lack of self-confidence, the ability to see with objectivity, or the alluring idea that something more might make the painting better.
I finished the picture on the left in November 2017, named it Lost A Big Shoe Birdman! and showed it in my exhibition Exit From Coaltown at Summerhall, Edinburgh (November 2017 - January 2018).
However, I recently began to see it in a different light. I removed the title, the egg and added more phrases, words and marks and now, it seems to be truly finished and to me, to have a better balance and meaning, even if that meaning is quite personal.
