If the old painting is on a stretcher, strip off the canvas, roll it up, and write on the outside the title, date and a comment. These rolled canvases take up little room, and can be shoved into an attic and are out of mind. Then, at a later date, you will either be delighted to see an old friend, or horrified! Then the decision to chuck or not might be easier. (The paint might crack if you roll too tight, so maybe use a postage tube as a core, and keep adding to it, one canvas over the other.) This way, you will now have a stretcher ready for a new canvas.

Since I moved into a smaller apartment and gave up my studio, I have stored a lot of paintings in my cellar, which is fortunately dry and temperate. For ages I've been considering doing away with a lot of them. I'm in the habit of obliterating paintings that I'm not happy with (or are just plain awful), so there are a number of blanked out canvases to deal with, and a number of paintings in various stages of completion, which I presumably gave up on! But I also stored a number of very large paintings which have just languished there after the exhibition they were painted for did not happen (circumstances beyond my control). Only last week I bought a lethal cutting knife to deal with them. But I am currently represented at a group exhibition, and at the vernissage a lady came up to me and invited me to do a solo exhibition! Yesterday I inspected the venue, a hospital with long, wide corridors, and realized that those paintings I had written off were going to look great on those walls! Had I not been too busy all week, those big paintings would now be off the stretchers and rolled up in a corner. I don't know if anyone will want to buy one, but at least they'll get an airing. And of course, there are other ways of clearing the "attic". Why not donate paintings you would otherwise destroy to a charity shop or other good cause? No one will know you can no longer identify with them!
One more idea: Stretchers can be reused! A roll of canvas (heavy cotton or linen) is a good investment.
And as Shirley says, storing paintings rolled up is a practical proposition if you can't make a decision. You can always reinstate them and it's never too late to throw jetsam overboard!

I know of sculptors who have thousands of dollars worth of sculpture, sitting in storage. What's the point of having work you no longer enjoy just taking up space? I've recycled a number of bronzes and turned them into new pieces. Artwork is like anything, if it hasn't had a purpose after a certain length of time then it' s time to part company. Make it into something better.

I keep tons of small things I've painted that are incomplete pictures, abandoned efforts, what have you, but only if there are pieces within them that were done well and that might some day find similar expression in another work. Because I paint exclusively with watercolor I don't have the problem of bulky canvases taking up room. I love going through folders of old partial pictures, because often I find that I reabsorb the image into my internal reference library and more finely depict it at some time in the future. No ego involved in this case. These are learning devices and memory aids. If and when I die (an obscure and unlamented painter) and those things are still on the shelves in my studio, my heirs can toss them or keep them as they see fit.

I paint mainly in watercolor and teach a watercolor class. It's easy to take some of my work and just paint over it in gesso or a light colored acrylic background, then I have a free 'canvas' to paint an acrylic painting on. It works great, the paper is then heavier and holds up well to the 'new' artwork.
I can also flip the paper over and do a new watercolor on the back. Old masters often did that.

I used to think I should keep everything - as a way to watch my career and hopefully my development as an artist. Now I realize that I cannot nor do I wish to keep work that I do not think repressents the best of what i am as an artist. I don't want the sub par stuff out there for any generation to see. I don't mind keeping pieces that I think were my best at the time - but not every one. There are just too many to keep and supplies are too expensive to just chuck a canvas. Drywall sanding mesh is great for getting rid of old masterpieces!

After my last purge of paintings into the local dumpster, I found some of my paintings were rescued by a dumpster diver. If you want them removed from circulation then destroy them before you through them away.

My studio-mate gives me all of her oil painted canvases that she no longer wants and I get to paint over them. I turn the painting upside down, splash some left over oil color onto it not really covering the canvas 100% and stash until dry. Then I begin....allowing some of her color to be incorporated into my new landscape.

I find ways to recycle acrylics which either don't seem to be selling or which have weak areas I can't or don't want to fix. I love to use failed paintings as the ground for a new image (but usually turn the original image upside down so it's not so distracting when over painting). Otherwise, I find the strongest areas which work as a complete image and remove the canvas from the stretchers to then cut the original canvas into resized pieces and mount them onto board for reframing. Any remaining pieces are either kept for new starts or collage elements or cut into 3"x4" segments and mounted on cardstock to sell as 'recylced art' cards. A failed or outdated painting can still generate income if creatively recycled.

Currently my approach is to paint small and finish a piece in one sitting almost every day (and I love posting them to my blog and getting comments). But there was a period when I was following the advice "do many starts". As Roscoe said, I don't find those starts are really suitable for how I paint today. I totally agree with Robert, get rid of them! My method is to gesso over them (they are oils) and then I give them to either a friend who is a local grade school art teacher or to my son's college friends who are art majors. They don't have the money to by supplies and are thrilled to get them. I also give them art supplies that I bought, tried out, and didn't care for. How many times have you held on to something, thinking it will be useful someday, only to find that when you are ready to get rid of it, it is no longer useful to anyone? Give it to someone who can use it, now!

If you really do not want to keep or recycle them, I agree with Bobbi - gesso over them and donate them. My friend volunteers teaching art classes at Ronald McDonald House to children with cancer - she is always in need of supplies.

I wonder did Picasso destroy all of his old paintings because he changed his style? Would we have samples of art work that artists did in their past to show their progression today if all artists destroyed former works of art? I agree there is a lot of junk out there but should we destroy everything from the our past? Art historians are going to have a tough time with our generation of artists if we continue to destroy our past because we have changed in the present. Should our art work go the way of the hard copy photo negative and delete like today's digital photos? I'm wondering is anyone else?

I agree! Some old paintings are just too awful to save. I cringe when I visit a relative's house and they have something hanging on their wall that I did in high school! (I'm in my 50s now...) I use some old paintings to start fires in my wood stove. But with some, I take on the challenge of improving them. Many can be "saved" with a few expert brushstrokes, or by softening an edge or adding some new flourish. Some, sadly are relegated to the burn box - and they deserve to be there. I have no regrets!

There is no danger that our generation of artists will end up unrecorded. There are mountains and mountains of junk in form of failed paintings, worthless sketchbooks, every thought and scribble treasured, seas of photographs - paper and digital, imagine all that real state wasted. Everyone and their dog hopes they are a Picasso. This age will be remembered as the age of delusional self-importance. It will (and should) all be destroyed to make space for next generations. The few Picassos will be treasured by collectors and museums, not by artists. We need to let go of ourselves and let us be caught by those who need us.

Recently I sorted through boxes of unsold paintings. Some I destroyed, but others I sanded off my name, signed on the back using a faux name and donated to the local charity shop. The woman in charge was very pleased to receive them, telling me art sold well there and they were always glad to get more. Carrying out the door a second batch for charity, my neighbor begged me to give him a painting, so I let him. He noticed none were signed. I explained if I signed the painting I would expect to be paid for the work, otherwise it devalues the work I previously sold. He said he'd put his name on them. I laughed and he took two paintings, very excited. So my storage area is cleared out, a charity made some money and my neighbor is happy.

I think Shirley's got it about right. I go the other way and chuck absolutely everything out (set fire to it) with gusto too hastily. I was looking through some old photos the other day and saw some of some paintings I did years ago and thought 'I wish I'd kept that one' lol

I would suggest putting the paintings into storage to keep as a reminder. If you are concerned about them being shown when you are gone I would suggest putting a note on the back stating your opinion about the work. Good or bad they are yours and I think having a visual reference of progress and benchmarks can really help. I know I have destroyed work in the past and have later regretted it because their was something in those destroyed works that helped inform my current work and process. Although sometimes it really helps to burn work or destroy work in order to move on or change gears. I think it is always best to keep work. Even separate it into three folios, a bad work folio, a good work folio, and a works that could be developed folio. Sometimes you don't know what you have until its gone.

I believe some work should be destroyed -- pieces that were experiments, demos for classes, or just plain bad compositions. Then there are works that are the best you can do that this time in your career. These should be kept (if they have not sold or been given as gifts) to judge your work as you progress. The only person you ever compare yourself to is your past self. How do you do so if you have nothing to see from the past? Those paintings are ones I was proud of at one time and just because I have become better in some sense, does not mean they should be destroyed. Progress is what we are after is it not? How do we show progress? By comparing! So save a few to compare with. Destroy those that you know at that time are not up to your level of work!

It was hard to paint over that first piece, but I did and I've never regretted it. If you want to have a record of everything you paint, you can always take a photograph of it first. I keep digital images of my art, even ones I destroy. I keep thinking of putting it into a separate folder but haven't yet. Someday I probably will, just so I can open that folder when I get in a funk and look at all the really bad pieces to remind myself that I survived and destroyed them so I can do it again. Every brushstroke (or whatever your medium is) isn't golden, nor should it be thought of as so. When you remember that it is only a brushstroke, it's easy to paint over it and do it again.

I've held onto several canvases thinking I HAD to paint over them. After reading your letter I feel free to burn them; the sooner the better! Thank you.

I think I rightly attribute this to Robert Wade who suggests on those failed watercolor paintings that at times it is best to use "the strong right arm" - meaning to blissfully tear them to bits. It does feel good. I will allow my rejects to accumulate for 6 months to a year. Somehow I think that by allowing them to age, something worthwhile will magically emerge. Usually while matting and framing those offerings that I recognized as good, I deem it worthy to sift back through the reject pile. Maybe there is something to crop out - some small spot that was not "so horrible." If anything, they serve to make what did make the cut look even better. Then, with little ceremony and a big trash can I start ripping. Sometimes I do consider how much pigment is on that surface - but usually I can tell you what mental failure brought this paper to this fate. The lack of planning, taking too much time to paint and becoming niggling and overly critical, poorly planned shapes, no places of rest in a cluttered design. I find a lift to my spirit and I can take a heartfelt sigh. Those pieces of evidence are laid to rest with no crime done. There is after all, so much paint and so little time.

I have just attended a workshop where glazing was a major element. Being out of town and receiving a gift of Painters Keys I took time to re-read a section on discarding old paintings. I have quite a few and some are already painted over so further painting over had no appeal. I decided to use them to learn.
With no intent to try to save the paintings I did extensive glazing experiments before trashing them. Quite a few perked up very considerably, others got gloomy. In most cases expectations were confirmed and I will now glaze with more confidence. The paintings continued to the dumpster.

Few things are that precious to warrant hanging on to them. Reflecting on older work is ok, for a while, maybe one should set a time limit. No longer than 5 yrs? Also if your style has changed subconsciously or on purpose, comparing new to old work may not be all that important. Painting is an ongoing journey and looking back has only limited usefulness. After all, you should know where you have been and look forward to where you are going.
As to overpainting an old surface. I do mostly watermedia on paper and gessoing over an unsuccessful or old piece doesn't bother me at all. Sometimes I like the heavier surface gesso gives me. Also sometimes I scrape back to areas of color that look promising. For abstracts, gessoed , textured surfaces are a gift, it gets my imagination going and the "what if..." possibilities are wonderful. In the end it is important to really edit your work and check for design and composition factors and make sure it says what I want it to say.

Read with interest and some bemusement about the "destroy" unwanted paintings. Well, sure would be good to be a "wealthy" artist and have lots of dough to buy lots of canvases, but if I've painted something I don't like, I unstaple the canvas and turn it over to start again. Is this some sort of "no-no" in our art world? When canvas costs what it does, I figure it's a 'make it go as far as possible" situation.
Gets rid of the problem of old painting ridges too!
And someday a big surprise for someone....maybe!

Several charitable groups in our community ask for small works for fundraisers. I have often found parts of old acrylic or watercolour paintings that are worth keeping; so, I cut those parts out and glue them with acrylic medium onto pieces of masonite* or archival foamcore for these donations. The stretchers can then be re-used. If the old work is a watercolour, I glue it to my backing and then give the surface a good coating of acrylic varnish. A friend who makes paper will happily take the leftover scraps of rag paper.
*Masonite is close to PH neutral, I'm told. Other brands of pressed board use formaldehyde in their process; so their products are considerably more acidic.

When we sell such painting which was painted on second time, there will be a sense of guilt. The buyer is unaware of this fact. When buyer is willing to pay our price, we owe him a decent deal. I too have many such spoit and unsold. At least I remove the canvas and recycle the frame with fresh canvas over it.

If you have access to some roll canvas, or scraps, save the stretcher bars and staple on a new piece of canvas. It's as good as new, and you're still starting fresh.

Comment: If tossing out art, be sure to destroy it rather than put it out with the trash or you may see your work in your neighbor's yard sale (true story!)

Another solution to the old painting problem might be to turn them over to keep from grabbing onto "precious" parts, cut them up into whatever size desired. I use 8" squares. Because the colors are still my personal palette they become an invaluable source of collage material. They are small enough to store easily and just flip through like paint strips. Can be torn or cut for collage, greeting card or book mark.

I keep my old paintings because they show growth and often have fond memories associated with them. If one of my family members wants an old one and enjoys it, I let them. After all, when I first started selling, I sold paintings that are now old work, and the people (the ones I know) who have them are still displaying and enjoying them. Now if it's one the artist hates, that's another matter.

I took the opportunity of a studio move to burn most of the results of the first three to four years of my painting efforts on panel and canvas. I approached it with much trepidation, delaying it till the last day of the move. But there was this old burning barrel in the backyard, and the new place hand no such convenience. Once I started the burning process it became easier. The outcome was very freeing, invigorating. Not too long after I made a major departure in style, don't know if it would have happened with the old stuff staring back at me.

A very good painter friend of mine... will not keep work that is not up to his current standards... I however feel that it should be kept to teach students where the mistakes are. I take the canvases off the stretcher bars... then staple them together like a book but do not sell them. I use them to remind myself and others... of past mistakes and ignorance!

Evidently, I had a very thorough and lasting bout with toilet training. I have gone through past works, tossed and torn so many that those remaining (ones that I like and wish to be remembered for) have been winnowed down to "a precious few," as in the "September Song." Those that have been sold, I have no control over, but those with me and those yet to come, are having a harder time making the cut as I grow older. I am hoping to leave a solid 100 good works to posterity.

Every artist is different. But this is what I do. While I try and keep my current inventory up to date, it has been my experience that very few paintings from earlier collections will sell. If they haven't sold by now, they probably won't.
In this day and age, the economy is tanking and art supplies continue to skyrocket in price. The frame is the most expensive part of the process. First of all, I photograph everything! Most of the pieces make it to my website, but not everything. For older canvases, I take a pair of pliers and carefully remove the staples and canvas. I roll up the canvas and store it away in my giant print drawers. Then I stretch a new canvas over the old frame and paint with a fresh palette. NEVER Paint over an old canvas! No matter how much gesso is applied, the old image will always dictate something.
Artists need to do what is termed "Gallery Quality." This is where the canvas is well painted without drips, tears or another painting shadowing behind a new image. But that is just me.

I am currently having a good clearout and donate all unwanted unsigned watercolours/ drawings to our local charity shop - they seem to sell OK- and what they bring goes to good causes I otherwise couldn't afford to donate cash to.
shop - helps the feelgood factor

When I have a painting which begins to look old or tired or just doesnt'quite "have it", I make it into a floorcloth. Take the canvas off the stretchers, lay it on the floor and have a look. I usually then add spatters or drippings ala Pollack. Trim the edges so you can turn under 1 inch and hot glue down on back using a brayer to smooth as you go. Finish with two or three coats of non-yellowing clear polyurathane ( I like water-based). It's sometimes amazing how these turn out when used on the floor ! Art you can walk on !! Makes you feel they are successful after all.

I recently applied black gesso to some old canvasses and am passing them on to some teenaged artists for their use. Recycling at its best, and then I get the great feeling of clearing out my art space.

I keep the paintings I do not like. I use them to practice and play with different products, textures, glazes, with or without a fresh coat of gesso. Also good to make a test sample for wall paint. It is bigger and light and can be hung on different walls to see the effect of the light before spending a fortune redecorating your living room and not liking the colour. Also cut the canvas and give it to a child along with everything Crayola and others make. Use thinned white glue to cover and make sculptures. (use frame as kindling for
fire) And finally you can use it to fix your canoe!

I wish I'd paid proper attention to this letter earlier as I blogged about a unique solution to this problem earlier this month: http://didrooglie.blogspot.com/2009/10/thinking-outside-frame.html

This is a great solution!
"From: Anne T. Nielsen -- Oct 10, 2009
I take the canvases off the stretcher bars... then staple them together like a book but do not sell them. I use them to remind myself and others... of past mistakes and ignorance!"

I wish I could agree with you here Robert, but I can't. It hinges on 2 things- the first being that you come from a painter's background and you produce far more than many of us artists can. Some of us, whose work is far more labor intensive than many a painter's, hope and pray every single day that at the end of our lives we've had enough time and enough money and enough support and enough sales to guarantee that we've actually produced enough work to constitute an acceptable perceivable body. So trashing work is not a concept that rises to the surface very often. Over the years I have in fact tossed a couple of pieces that I realized were never going to get to where I wanted them to, but not recently. That was a learning experience. But my second point would simply be that substandard is a judgment, one that I may not be able to accurately make. Many pieces I've created that I may have thought of as slightly less than have been very attractive to someone else. And my life's work as represented by the body I have created needs to be seen with a historical reference including the occasional piece that doesn't seem to be as stunning as all the rest. I'm up into the hundreds of pieces, not thousands like some painters. And each reflects where I was at the time of their creation. That historical reference has extreme value in the long run, especially for us artists who will never produce as much as you painters do.

I have a friend who cut up a dozen unsuccessful acrylic on canvas paintings and sewed the pieces onto other unsuccessful works. A gallery owner saw these and offered a show. The stitched paintings sold out and for $1000 each.

Having sold more paintings than I am happy with, I've come to the conclusion that sometimes I might be wrong. My taste might have changed. Others seem to like works of mine that I wouldn't line the birdcage with. Usually it's a matter of knowing that now I have more skill and could do better, or differently. On the other hand, I like the "sign it or smash it" test. I might have to go through those old stacks of drawings and pastels and run them past my willingness to sign.

Ya'll crack me up, worrying so much over nothing. One of the first rules that we learn as artist is that we are too close to our own work. Needing critiques from others to make us feel we are on the right track. We are our own worst critics, we all know this. So how do you expect to go through your body of work and successfully discard unworthy works. What happens is that the older works have grown distant to you, so you feel less attached to it. Which in turns allows you to see your work differently then you use to. Not that it's bad art, it may be less developed or the fact that you've grown....Wow!! Here's an idea, throw all your recent work away, because in 10 years from now you're going to find it repulsive. LOL Artist crack me up!! LOL

"Wow!! Here's an idea, throw all your recent work away, because in 10 years from now you're going to find it repulsive."
Now, THAT'S funny!

There's middle ground you haven't covered in the debate over what to do with older work. I believe it's best to clean out the shelves every couple of years. I used to sand old paintings down (oils, not acrylics) but have run into trouble in that the oils I used in older work was self-made and therefore greasier than the industrially produced paints: I've seen some cracking, especially when asked to put a new layer of varnish. So it's best to leave old paintings for what they are, waypoints in history. But, what I have done with paintings that in retrospect look less good than they did at the time, is pare them down. In other words, take out the best parts and reframe. Thus, I have been able to flog quite a few of my old paintings, and some I have even kept because they look so good. Is it cheating? No way, because every part was painted by me, but each detail seems enlarged, and therefore more painterly than I had originally intended.

With acrylics? Sand em down and overpaint. Professionals see an old panel or canvas simply as a new possibility, but I've noticed that amateurs fear they might be dragged down into previous disasters. I say do not be superstitious about previous mistakes screaming out at you, it's rather easy to silence them in a new layer of paint.

Simply take photos (JPGs) of the work you no longer wish to keep. That way you'll have a record of your progress, but free up storage space or have pieces to paint over without concern.