Can you finish your own paintings?

There is power in the beginning of something.

“I start a picture and I finish it.” – Jean-Michel Basquiat

When I’m staring at a blank canvas, with an idea in mind, it’s almost like I’ve had a good night of sleep and a couple of cups of coffee to boot. I can’t wait to dive in and get started. Those first marks can be almost anything. There’s no right or wrong, only the energy of possibility. A kind of reckless discovery pushes me forward. Watching as lines, colors, and shapes begin to emerge, sometimes I feel almost more like an observer than a participant. It’s marvelous.

This kind of inspired momentum is almost addictive, and if you’ve ever spent much time painting, you’ve probably experienced it at least once or twice. We are all in. Time is just a word, and we are lost to the thrill of the chase.

And then… The game shifts. We check in and step back. Our critical mind takes over. We begin to analyze, review, and dissect.

Painting Cynthia for the Learning to See Alumni from yesterday.

This is a crossroads. How you move forward from this point will dictate the success or failure of your painting. There are aesthetic decisions to be made, but who gets to make them?

Your analytical brain begins to think about how the composition, colors, and shapes may be working. Your critical brain wants to know if what you have painted is any good.

At this point, you may inadvertently begin entertaining visitors.

“What would my spouse say if they walked in?”
“Would my relatives approve?”
“Will this fly on Instagram?”
“Will my friends think that I have lost it?“
“The art world will say that I’m a hack.”

Your studio is empty. No one is even there! And they certainly can’t finish your painting for you. Even if they could, not one of them is qualified to be you. It’s your painting, your creative process, and the final decisions are yours to make unfettered by others’ imagined opinions.

At the end of the day, when you look critically at your work (and you will) the most important question to entertain is “do I like it?“ Some paintings explode from the starting gun and rocket to the finish line. Most paintings manage to run and also to fall. To get up again, walk for a bit, run for a bit, stumble, recover, and finally, they find their way to the finish line. Just make sure that you are running your race.

Do you paint your paintings from beginning to end?

Do others opinions affect the way that you approach your art?

Can you finish your own painting?