The Ones That Don't Make It.

EBSQ Self-Representing Artists Community Forum

Forums Register Login My Profile Inbox Address Book My Subscription My Forums

Chat Photo Gallery Member List Search Calendars FAQ Ticket List Log Out

The Ones That Don't Make It.

View related threads: (in this forum | in all forums)

Logged in as: Guest

Users viewing this topic: none

Printable Version

All Forums >> [Art-Specific Topics] >> Painting (public) >> The Ones That Don't Make It.

Page: [1] 2 next > >>

Message

<< Older Topic Newer Topic >>

The Ones That Don't Make It. - 3/3/2008 8:17:20 PM

bafiedel

Posts: 6009
Joined: 12/4/2005
From: Glenside PA
Status: online

Does this happen to anyone else?  Here's how it goes...I have an idea for a painting. Phase One I'm all excited about the new project...I quickly putting the sketch on canvas and do the color blocking.

Phase Two, painting begins. I'm working quickly, totally enjoying myself.  At the end of this phase, I usually ask my husband's opinion of the piece and he almost invariably says it looks great, don't do anything else to it. What does he know!   At this point I also sometimes take a photo to document progress, and may post a WIP. I have a vision of what the project will look like. I can't wait to finish! So on to Phase Three.

Phase three, the trouble begins. Colors get muddy. Contrasts disappear and everything becomes a middle value. The freshness and energy drain from the piece. It sucks, and nothing I do is helping.  I should have listened to my husband. This phase can go on for days. I keep trying to resurrect the thing, having invested so much into it already.  It had such promise once, I can't give up. What a colassal waste of time. IT SUCKS NOW!!!!!! I HATE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And to make it worse, I have photos that show it was way better before I screwed it up. Note to self...NO MORE WIPS!

In these cases Phase Four has only two options.  Paint over the whole thing and save the canvas for re-use, or slash it with the box cutter. The latter can be frighteningly satisfying.

_____________________________

Beth

Post #: 1

RE: The Ones That Don't Make It. - 3/3/2008 8:43:27 PM

lamiller63

Posts: 9012
Joined: 7/30/2005
From: Kansas
Status: offline

Yes, it happens all of the time

_____________________________

LisaM
http://www.redbubble.com/people/lamiller

Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind-Dr. Suess

(in reply to bafiedel)

Post #: 2

RE: The Ones That Don't Make It. - 3/3/2008 10:00:31 PM

swirlygirl

Posts: 5226
Joined: 7/18/2006
From: Santa Rosa, California
Status: offline

I feel okay about paintings like that as long as I feel like I learned something,,like what not to do

Sometimes I don't appreciate that that painting forwarded my skills until the next one,,,so maybe you need to start that next one

_____________________________

http://www.HeideHibbard.com

http://www.istockphoto.com/heidereedhibbard

http://www.dreamstime.com/Heidehibbard_info

(in reply to lamiller63)

Post #: 3

RE: The Ones That Don't Make It. - 3/3/2008 10:10:34 PM

jiminycricket

Posts: 2101
Joined: 7/30/2005
From: Monroe, CT
Status: offline

Same thing over here. I never listen to my husband to leave well enough alone.

Then, I hate it and try to resurrect it from total disaster which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't..

If I put it away for a few years and don't even look at it till then, sometimes I can sort of bear it.

*giggle*
"D"

_____________________________

"What if the Hokey Pokey is REALLY what it's all about?"

"Always be who you are and say what is on your mind.
Those who mind, don't matter and those who matter, won't mind." ~ Dr. Seuss

(in reply to bafiedel)

Post #: 4

RE: The Ones That Don't Make It. - 3/3/2008 10:31:01 PM

bafiedel

Posts: 6009
Joined: 12/4/2005
From: Glenside PA
Status: online

I guess I could be more philosophical about it if it just didn't waste so much time. And although he never says it, I imagine my husband saying "I told you so, you should have left it alone."

_____________________________

Beth

(in reply to swirlygirl)

Post #: 5

RE: The Ones That Don't Make It. - 3/4/2008 12:46:44 AM

dancingdoestudios

Posts: 577
Joined: 7/30/2005
From: Northern California, USA
Status: offline

Oh yeah, this definitely happens to me. Once in a great while they'll get the scissors, but usually I just torture myself and make myself finish and then it still sucks, heheh!

_____________________________

http://www.carmenkeys.com
http://carmensylph.livejournal.com

(in reply to bafiedel)

Post #: 6

RE: The Ones That Don't Make It. - 3/4/2008 12:55:14 AM

toucanne

Posts: 8362
Joined: 10/5/2005
From: Pahrump, Nevada
Status: offline

I can relate. It happens to me too.
I couldn't bear to slash the canvas.
I have rarely gessoed over the whole thing, although it has happened.

What I usualy do is walk away from it, do something else and then come back to it. Sometimes not till the next day. It's like doing the NY Times crossword puzzle. I'll get totally stuck, but come back the next day and 2 or 3 things will jump at me right away. The same thing happens with paintings. It's a really painful stage, but you need to suck it up and continue, and the painting will come together.

_____________________________

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
~ Martin Luther King Jr.

My LiveJournal

(in reply to dancingdoestudios)

Post #: 7

RE: The Ones That Don't Make It. - 3/4/2008 3:28:17 AM

labeana

Posts: 9691
Joined: 7/30/2005
From: Pocono Mountains, PA
Status: offline

OMG Yes, Beth....in fact Jim and I have named it the "I hate it" phase...it's almost invariable.....so I know to leave it and come back later...

_____________________________

Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. The slogan "press on" has solved, and always will solve, the problems of the human race.

(in reply to toucanne)

Post #: 8

RE: The Ones That Don't Make It. - 3/4/2008 6:09:48 AM

nelliex

Posts: 4631
Joined: 7/30/2005
Status: offline

mine tend to languish in my basement in partly finished condition till I either finsih them or gesso over them LOL

_____________________________

Wicked Dollz the art and imagination of n.hunt

The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to, and I paint whatever passes through my head without any other consideration.
Frida Kahlo

(in reply to labeana)

Post #: 9

RE: The Ones That Don't Make It. - 3/4/2008 12:48:44 PM

blumoo

Posts: 2494
Joined: 7/30/2005
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: swirlygirl

I feel okay about paintings like that as long as I feel like I learned something,,like what not to do Sometimes I don't appreciate that that painting forwarded my skills until the next one,,,so maybe you need to start that next one

Are you really that mature? Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

_____________________________

melissa morton
associate director, EBSQ

I believe that everyone else my age is an adult whereas I am merely in disguise. - Margaret Atwood

(in reply to swirlygirl)

Post #: 10

RE: The Ones That Don't Make It. - 3/4/2008 1:47:16 PM

krisjean

Posts: 8392
Joined: 7/30/2005
From: Fort Worth, TX
Status: offline

Yes I know exactly what you mean. I had two versions of that article for the zine.........I sent the wrong one in. The published version is missing this para:

quote:

Seldom is this birthing process so spontaneous that the piece materializes rapidly. We labor with the concept we are trying to convey. We plan, purchase materials if necessary, then we begin to create. Often, there are stages, necessitated by materials (i.e. oils drying, adhesives setting). Then there are the phases that we as Artists frequently torture ourselves with – the love/hate periods, the dissatisfaction and struggle with some technical aspect, or the disillusionment that the piece is not expressing precisely what you want (or so you think). At some point, after many arduous hours, we call it done, or at least put an end to it, so we can proceed with life. All of this time, this blood, sweat and tears, has untold value.

_____________________________

I SAID LOVE ME - D*MN IT!!!
--
KJ Web Design
Art & Life Blatherings
Website

(in reply to blumoo)

Post #: 11

RE: The Ones That Don't Make It. - 3/4/2008 4:39:24 PM

toucanne

Posts: 8362
Joined: 10/5/2005
From: Pahrump, Nevada
Status: offline

quote:

Seldom is this birthing process so spontaneous that the piece materializes rapidly. We labor with the concept we are trying to convey. We plan, purchase materials if necessary, then we begin to create. Often, there are stages, necessitated by materials (i.e. oils drying, adhesives setting). Then there are the phases that we as Artists frequently torture ourselves with – the love/hate periods, the dissatisfaction and struggle with some technical aspect, or the disillusionment that the piece is not expressing precisely what you want (or so you think). At some point, after many arduous hours, we call it done, or at least put an end to it, so we can proceed with life. All of this time, this blood, sweat and tears, has untold value.

Sounds like my glass piece...

"Labor" is a good word for it!

_____________________________

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
~ Martin Luther King Jr.

My LiveJournal

(in reply to krisjean)

Post #: 12

RE: The Ones That Don't Make It. - 3/4/2008 4:50:24 PM

Robin47

Posts: 6120
Joined: 2/6/2006
From: A continuing succession of odd locations, IMHO...
Status: offline

I have been known to take a sledge hammer to a piece or two. I't really not as satisfying as it sounds. (pun intended)

_____________________________

That's only because men in your age group have a 25 point handicap.....

The truth of a thing is the feel of it, not the think of it. -- Stanley Kubrick

(in reply to toucanne)

Post #: 13

RE: The Ones That Don't Make It. - 3/4/2008 5:02:44 PM

glistenglass

Posts: 7723
Joined: 7/30/2005
From: Tampa FL
Status: offline

I've smashed a lot of glass in my time ...

_____________________________

http://darlene-d.livejournal.com

"If these pills don't stop the kleptomania," said the psychiatrist, "try to get me a nice video camera."

(in reply to Robin47)

Post #: 14

RE: The Ones That Don't Make It. - 3/4/2008 5:10:55 PM

toucanne

Posts: 8362
Joined: 10/5/2005
From: Pahrump, Nevada
Status: offline

_____________________________

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
~ Martin Luther King Jr.

My LiveJournal

(in reply to Robin47)

Post #: 15

RE: The Ones That Don't Make It. - 3/5/2008 6:56:23 AM

dawnt

Posts: 5551
Joined: 7/30/2005
From: Iowa
Status: offline

Yep...that happens to me, too. Except there is no recycling option.

I just have an expensive blob of glass and metal....that will last for hundreds of years.....staring me in the face. The little guys get thrown in the trash. I can't quite throw away the bigger ones though. So I have a section of my glass rack in the basement for pieces of crap to languish in the dark forever with the spiders.

It is kind of like damning them to hell. Which is mean.....I mean it was my fault they stink....not theirs. Now I feel guilty and like I should pull them out where they can get a little bit of light.

(I would make a poor god.

)

_____________________________

"I know, everybody funny, now you funny too"

George Thorogood

(in reply to toucanne)

Post #: 16

RE: The Ones That Don't Make It. - 3/5/2008 1:46:26 PM

heatherm

Posts: 6539
Joined: 3/28/2007
From: Winthrop, MA
Status: offline

This morning I scrapped a portrait I was doing in acrylic - it reached such and UGLY stage it would require more work and frustration than what it is worth - just a head and shoulders. Acrylic is not my first medium by any means. So this afternoon I will begin from scratch! Nice and fresh! With a new canvas...

_____________________________

I enjoy Zen-like moments when painting, the quiet of the soul.

http://heatherartist.livejournal.com/

(in reply to dawnt)

Post #: 17

RE: The Ones That Don't Make It. - 3/5/2008 1:56:18 PM

toucanne

Posts: 8362
Joined: 10/5/2005
From: Pahrump, Nevada
Status: offline

quote:

So I have a section of my glass rack in the basement for pieces of crap to languish in the dark forever with the spiders.

LMAO, that sounds very gothic... maybe you could rent your basement out for filming creepy movies...

quote:

It is kind of like damning them to hell. Which is mean.....I mean it was my fault they stink....not theirs. Now I feel guilty and like I should pull them out where they can get a little bit of light. (I would make a poor god. )

_____________________________

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
~ Martin Luther King Jr.

My LiveJournal

(in reply to dawnt)

Post #: 18

RE: The Ones That Don't Make It. - 3/5/2008 3:31:16 PM

dawnt

Posts: 5551
Joined: 7/30/2005
From: Iowa
Status: offline

What do you do with the old canvas, Heather?

quote:

ORIGINAL: toucanne

quote:

So I have a section of my glass rack in the basement for pieces of crap to languish in the dark forever with the spiders.

LMAO, that sounds very gothic... maybe you could rent your basement out for filming creepy movies...

What a great idea!! It would be really good for that! Here is the spider pit of hell for bad glass art.....

Thumbnail Image

Attachment (1)

_____________________________

"I know, everybody funny, now you funny too"

George Thorogood

(in reply to toucanne)

Post #: 19

RE: The Ones That Don't Make It. - 3/18/2008 7:18:48 PM

BeadedHeron

Posts: 6907
Joined: 1/2/2006
From: South Shore of Lake Superior
Status: offline

Poor glass!!!!!

It is easy for me, I can just get out the scissors. It is still hard to cut them up though so I rarely do the scissors until I happen to remember some particular beads. Otherwise they languish in a drawer. I really should take scissors to them though, I have a heck of a lot of beads in bondage.

(in reply to dawnt)