On being unsatisfied with your work, but finishing it anyway.
When to push through and when to set it aside and come back later.
Lately I’ve been largely unsatisfied with the paintings that I start, and I’ve had an even harder time than usual seeing it through till the end. When painting you really have to trust the process. No painting looks like you want it to 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes in. Some of my paintings still don’t when I reach my 1 hour deadline. Since my last email, I have started 6 new paintings and only finished one of them. That one I am very unsatisfied with. So much that I don’t really want to show it. But I think since this is all a learning project it will be good for me to show it anyway.
It is not based on a reference photo as my previous paintings are, and so I didn’t have that to lean against while painting - which is likely why I struggled so much with it.
Looking at it here, I suppose it is not as bad as I recall it. A bit messy, but not completely unsalvagable.
Now this particular painting was one I started back in July and really hated while painting it. I started 3 other paintings while procrastinating on finishing this one. I came back to it later though. Working on it in 10 minute sessions, and 3 weeks later I managed to finish it. It ended up being the first of my digital paintings that I really, really liked.
And so I keep my paintings around. Even the ones I currently hate. At some point in the future I’ll be able to finish them, which might result in a new favorite.
Don’t let it lie around for too long though, or you’ll risk that your current skill level no longer matches the painting, to such a degree that it will keep you from coming back to the painting at all. Trust me. I’ve tried that too.
I want to end today’s Newsletter by sharing a piece of art I recently came across that really moved me.
It is an art installation called Can’t Help Myself, that was put up at the Guggenheim Museum. The installation was made by the artists Sun Yuan and Peng Yu, and shows a robot unsuccesfully trying to clean up its own oil spill - as if the task itself wasn’t horrible enough, the oil is a vivid red colour, making the whole thing look like the poor robot is trying to clean up its own blood. I am normally not one for art installations, but I’ll admit this one struck me. Probably because it is so damn heartbreaking. The robot eventually shut down by itself after fruitlessly having tried to clean up its blood for 3 years.
If you have the time as well as youtube readily available, you might want to try and check out some of the video that’s been taken of it. Articles and pictures don’t really do the justice in conveing how horrific this whole installation really is.
The whole thing reminds me of Hachiko and his futile waiting for his owner to come back home.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go shed a tear for a dog and a robot.
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Great recommendation about the installation, it looks like these artists' previous work is pretty thought provoking too