Finishing up 50 unfinished paintings!

Wow, how to finish so many?
This is one of the stacks that finally has gotten finished and listed:

This painting is one of many which are getting sorted and finished this summer. It's a view of the Oregon coast (thanks for the inspiration, mom!). I'm obsessed with painting, not so much with figuring out what the heck to do with the piles of paintings which result. It took some intervention from my daughter to start to deal with the stacks. So I'm finishing them, she's dealing with them.
-----------
If you're an artist like me and have a hard time facing how to finish a painting, maybe you can try some of the things which seem to help me:

Ask yourself: should I add some contrasting colors for more shadows or reflected light? On a peach or yellow tree or flower, this might be petals or boughs on the shaded side of the object which can have beautiful plums or lavenders blended in.  On the blue shaded side of a white wall, some rosy or orange hints can be added to suggest the colored light bouncing around.

Another question: are my darks dark enough? This is the classic "squint your eyes" situation. When you do so, do you see a pleasing composition of darks which stand alone in their own right?

One other favorite question I ask myself: do I have too many sharp edges? Softening and blurring the edges of objects on the far side of a still life, or the distant part of a landscape can help to snap your main subject into focus and give a sense of depth to the scene.
----------------
That same daughter I mentioned is photographing some of the paintings which are most presentable and has started listing them on my eBay shop. I'm grateful!    Hope you'll take a peek if you're interested, you can see the eBay link below; the idea is that buyers can feel free to make an offer on any of the listings. It seems more leisurely and sane than an auction format, but some of the same fun, and a bit of a chance to get a bargain if at all possible!

_______________________

You can visit susankennedy.com to see more about my art; there are portfolios of my work, news about upcoming classes, and links to my facebook page, ebay store and etsy store.

Thanks for your interest in and support of my art!
Susan

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Winter Watercolor!

New Upcoming Book on Painting Landscapes with Light and Depth (for Oil and Acrylic Painters)

Paper Mache Cow Head