{"id":8019,"date":"2018-07-23T20:23:06","date_gmt":"2018-07-24T00:23:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/?p=8019"},"modified":"2018-07-23T20:26:36","modified_gmt":"2018-07-24T00:26:36","slug":"finished-not-finished-finished-not-finished","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2018\/07\/finished-not-finished-finished-not-finished\/","title":{"rendered":"Finished? Not finished? Finished? Not finished?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many artists have trouble determining when a painting is finished. It can be excruciatingly painful to let a painting go, especially after you worked on it for a long time. If like me, you focus on problems as you work, it can be easy to fixate on them. But fixing problems does not equate to finishing a painting.<\/p>\n

The only way I know how to work out if a painting is finished is to answer the question: does it please my eye<\/em>.  This means, at a minimum, that problems don’t stick out, the work captures my original intent, and–most important–it has life; it lives and breathes.  There’s no easy formula to determine this, of course, so until I can answer that question with a resounding ‘Yes!,’ I keep working.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The Press, oil, 40″ x 50″<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Read more<\/span>In the Studio Oct. 14 2012<\/span><\/a><\/div>

I thought I’d answered ‘Yes!’ for The Press<\/em>, but as soon as I signed it, something bothered me. I set it aside for several days hoping that fresh eyes would release my doubts.  But when I reviewed the painting later, my eye immediately identified what bothered me. No, I am not going to tell you what it was. Sketchy-looking or unfinished-looking passages are perfectly fine. False passages or overworked areas tend to be show stoppers.<\/p>\n

(Over-worked areas spoil a painting, but my advice is to blast through. Work as much as needed until you solve the problem. Such hard-won victories stick with you, and in the long run, it’s much better to work through a problem than it is to paste some safe, cliched passage over it and pretend it’s a solution.)<\/p>\n

Read more<\/span>Smooth Move—Smooth Painting Surfaces<\/span><\/a><\/div>

Anyway, I started in on the problem passage and worked on it until I was satisfied. That was a week ago and The Press<\/em> is–finally!–finished.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many artists have trouble determining when a painting is finished. It can be excruciatingly painful to let a painting go, especially after you worked on it for a long time. If like me, you focus on problems as you work, it can be easy to fixate on them. But fixing problems does not equate to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":8009,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[139,208,24,19,113,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bio","category-materials","category-shop_talk","category-studio","category-tips_tricks","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/ADS_4430.jpg?fit=800%2C1048&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5056,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2015\/05\/finished-garth-and-daryl-talking\/","url_meta":{"origin":8019,"position":0},"title":"Finished ‘Garth and Daryl Talking’","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"May 5, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I finally got\u00a0Garth and Daryl Talking\u00a0to the 'finishing stage' and lite the rocket. I determined to finish the painting in a single day, but after a\u00a0day-long marathon it wasn't done, so I followed with a half-day session and finally finished it. Garth and Daryl Talking is 42\" x 68\". I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "aesthetics"","block_context":{"text":"aesthetics","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/aesthetics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/ngg_featured\/garth-daryl.jpg?fit=500%2C813&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8096,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2018\/10\/turpentine-diaries-10-7-18\/","url_meta":{"origin":8019,"position":1},"title":"Turpentine diaries 10\/7\/18","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"October 7, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Small paintings (this painting is 30\" x 40\") always take longer than I expect. Starting, I intend to keep it simple, but I'm always discovering more things to explore or problems to solve. I'm only successful with finishing studies quickly when I restrict myself to monochrome. Who knows when this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Artists"","block_context":{"text":"Artists","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/artists\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/studio-2018-10-7.jpg?fit=800%2C956&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/studio-2018-10-7.jpg?fit=800%2C956&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/studio-2018-10-7.jpg?fit=800%2C956&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/studio-2018-10-7.jpg?fit=800%2C956&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4505,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2014\/12\/finished-painting-john-in-profile\/","url_meta":{"origin":8019,"position":2},"title":"Finished painting: John in Profile","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"December 26, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I finished this small painting this morning. It's another in the series of\u00a0my young children posing outside with a\u00a0white lawn chair. I think this is the 3rd or 4th in this series. I have another small one in-hand. I'm thinking about doing this painting in a larger format, say 36\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Paintings"","block_context":{"text":"Paintings","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/paintings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/john-profile-finished.jpg?fit=500%2C750&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8265,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2019\/02\/turpentine-diaries-2-3-19\/","url_meta":{"origin":8019,"position":3},"title":"Turpentine diaries 2\/3\/19","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"February 3, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I finished these three paintings today. Yeah, that's a lot for me. But all of them have been 'almost' done for some time. Paintings can represent problems to solve and after I solve them, if that doesn't finish the painting, I set the painting aside. Either the solution didn't solve\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "anecdotes"","block_context":{"text":"anecdotes","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/anecdotes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/studio-2019-2-3a.jpg?fit=800%2C643&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/studio-2019-2-3a.jpg?fit=800%2C643&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/studio-2019-2-3a.jpg?fit=800%2C643&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/studio-2019-2-3a.jpg?fit=800%2C643&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4054,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2014\/09\/finished-painting-the-explainer\/","url_meta":{"origin":8019,"position":4},"title":"Finished painting: The Explainer","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"September 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I finished The Explainer\u00a0 this morning. \u00a0This woman was explaining a painting to her companions who listened to her with rapt attention. \u00a0I didn't pay attention\u00a0to what she said but she was in earnest. The Explainer is 30\" x 48.\" According to my studio journal, this morning's session was the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Paintings"","block_context":{"text":"Paintings","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/paintings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/explain_finished.jpg?fit=444%2C1039&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2253,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2013\/06\/study-making-the-call-part-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":8019,"position":5},"title":"Study: Making \u2018The Call\u2019 Part 3","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"June 30, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The under-painting is now finished. The next update will occur after the under-painting is thoroughly dry and a substantial amount of modeling and local color have been added. Part 2. Part 1. Part 4 Finished painting","rel":"","context":"In "Bio"","block_context":{"text":"Bio","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/bio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Call, under-painting finished","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/call-3.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Gw6F-25l","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8019\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}