Painting really is a crazy juggle. It's hard to figure out all of the components that go into a successful painting every time. I was telling a friend the other day that I seem to really only like about a third of my paintings. He didn't seem to think these were bad odds.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
"Taken" - SOLD
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5 comments:
Hi Aaron. It's ok to tell your friends if you don't like many of your paintings, but not a good idea to share it with potential buyers. It gives them a reason to question their judgment when considering making a bid. Your work is beautiful. I love your linear compositions. And, you really know how to paint glass. Sometimes I think you could punch your values more. Keep up the good work.
I only like about 70% of mine. Maybe 60%. But I only offer for sale the ones I think are succesful. The others get wiped, trashed or thrown in the pile.
I think that culling out the weak ones is important.
I really enjoy your paintings, Aaron! I remember going to a lecture by Wolf Kahn and he said he only likes 'one in three' of his paintings. Another 'one in three' gets hung on the studio wall for up to a year so he could see it 'fresh' every day, and perhaps the 'fix' to it would come to him, the remaining 'one in three' - wipe down! So you're not in bad company! I'm still at the 'one in six' stage - if I'm lucky!
I wish I could remember which major artist it was...perhaps Cezanne...but I do recall my sense of relief when I read that he too liked only 30% of his art work. That exact percentage stuck in my head. Now when I look at my paintings and like 3 out of 10, it feels okay. And sometimes a collector will absolutely love a piece in my 10% "how was this ugly (or worse, boring) painting born of my brush?" category.
I just posted one that could've been a wiper from frustration or a throw away. I thought, just be brave and put it up. So I did.
I think the 30%,60%,10% is fairly accurate. What happens in the 60% is the painting might be good for someone else but if I haven't achieved my own expectations. I don't like it.
I have learned to keep that pretty much to myself though, as over the years I've sold those same painting s to people who loved them. That also demonstrates my inability to judge my own work.
I love your paintings. I want to be looser like you are. Deceptively simple looking.
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