HOW TO AVOID OVERWORKING YOUR PAINTINGS

By : Artists Network Staff

This article features excerpts from the October 2022 issue of Artists Magazine.

You’re in good company if you find yourself struggling with the issue of overworking your artwork. Defining when your work is “complete” is often ambiguous and left to a “gut feeling.” This is especially true for abstract works as well as processes that involve discovery and self-exploration. Defining when a painting is complete can feel somewhat delicate and sensitive. It sometimes feels like gambling, where, as we approach the end of a painting, we adjust a color, fix an edge, or add a line, in hopes that the single decision will bring it all together only to find that we’ve made it worse! We pushed it too far and now it’s ruined! While there is no broad definition or consensus in the art world as to when a work is complete, and thus not overworked, there is much we can learn from other artists.

DOES IT MATTER?

Many great artists describe a relationship with painting that accepts the idea that a painting may never be complete. In this sense, the challenge is deciding when to stop, more than deciding when to call a work done. Leonardo Da Vinci is given credit for the quote as “ Art is never finished, only abandoned .” At some point, we have to make a choice –do we continue working on our current painting or move on? Do we set a painting aside and come back to it later? Edgar Degas appears to have embraced the latter, as he was notorious for his tendency to hoard paintings so he could continue to tweak and adjust paintings over years. The Spanish realist, Antonio Lopez Garcia is featured in the 1992 documentary El sol del membrillo, (renamed “Dream of Light“) paints with unrelenting commitment to capturing the truth of a living quince tree, spending months changing and reworking his painting as the subject grows before him. Picasso even suggested that to “finish” a painting is to destroy it! These artists demonstrate a certain sense of futility, accepting the fact that works may never be fully completed – that perhaps it’s this fact itself that becomes the artist’s compulsion to paint. In this mindset, the idea of “overworking” becomes somewhat irrelevant.

“To finish a work? To finish a picture? What nonsense! To finish it means to be through with it, to kill it, to rid it of its soul, to give it its final blow the coup de grace for the painter as well as for the picture.” – Picasso

GET FOCUSED

Overworking can sometimes be a result of a lack of clear focus or intention. If you’re struggling with “overworking” your paintings and it’s holding you back from growing as an artist, explore your motivation to paint. For some, the compulsion to paint can have many layers and often shifts throughout the process. Bring focus to your unique compulsion and hold it in your mind while you work. This can help you define when the painting is done and warn you when you’re at risk of overworking. Rembrandt, quoted in The Rise of the Cult of Rembrandt: Reinventing an Old Master in Nineteenth-Century France (2003), by Alison MacQueen, says “The painting is finished when the artist says it’s finished.” We each paint for different reasons, so we will each arrive at different conclusions about when a work is “done.” Was it for the experience itself? Do you need something to hang on your wall? Do you have a message you’re looking to get across? Are you looking to discover something new through the painting process? Is the painting for you or someone else? George Braque provides the somewhat cryptic quote, “The painting is finished when it has erased the idea,” suggesting that a work is complete when the abstract expression of emotion overtakes the literal description of the subject. There are myriad reasons for why artists create and only you can define your own motivation.

“I tell myself that anyone who says he has finished a canvas is terribly arrogant. Finished means complete, perfect, and I toil away without making any progress, searching, fumbling around, without achieving anything much.” – Monet

Never Let A Painting Go Waste

Overworked paintings make perfect playgrounds for new experiences. If you’ve already determined that your painting cannot be fixed, your work now becomes just another study in which you’re free to embrace the freedom to explore, experiment, and simply have fun painting. Use an overworked painting to test new color combinations, techniques, materials, and more to see if it unlocks something new to use in the next iteration of your final painting. An overworked painting can simply mean you weren’t ready for the final yet!

Seek Guidance

Every artist has their own strategy for addressing the issue of overworking. Ask around and seek the guidance of an artist you respect and who respects your work. Experiment with different approaches to see what works for you! To help you get started, here are some responses featured in Artists Magazine.

WHATS YOUR #1 STRATEGY TO AVOID OVERWORKING A PAINTING?

“I keep stools and chairs throughout my studio. When I feel the work has developed, I step back and sit with it. When you take the time to live with a piece, you learn how to recognize what, if anything, it needs.”

Mia Tarducci, Artist

“The overarching goal in my work is to celebrate the people and places I find remarkable. I’m less interested in a futile exercise of highly rendered realism for the sake of satisfying my ego. To this end, I’m not as inclined to chase every minute detail and risk overworking a piece. I must admit that this requires a conscious effort each time a painting is approaching its conclusion.”

Mario Robinson, Artist

“I work fast and avoid boredom. I remind myself that paper is cheap and that I don’t have to keep going. A fresh page, or second draft, is preferable to getting bogged down.”

Danny Gregory, Artist, Author and Co-founder of Sketchbook Skool

“Overworking is often a result of overthinking. I’ve learned to put down the brush as soon as I can see and feel the impact that I wanted—leaving a bit of mystery. I try to let the artwork have a voice when mine has stopped speaking— to avoid chasing perfection.”

Vicki Clarkson

“I developed the habit of working on two to three pieces at the same time. Having different challenges going on keeps me from getting too hung up with any one painting.”

Janetta Gee

“Have a plan before beginning. If your goal is to make a particular part of the painting stand out, spend the most time on that. Let other parts be secondary—less focused, less detail.”

E. Brooks

“Dance party in the studio!”

Joey Heuisler