As with this comment, in art I often do not know what I'm trying to express, or 'access' until I make a start. No doubt, this tendency defines a particular approach, or idiosyncrasy. As well, what constitutes a finished product is never predetermined. In point of fact, I wish I could work in a more defined manner. Yet, for me, I am bound, perhaps limited, by a particular creative impulse that demands I pursue that which is, if you will given. Occasionally my drawings result in lawyers of shapes, and designs that look otherworldly. A friend told me he could hear music in my drawing. That particular drawing was 'composed,' very rapidly listing to invigorating music. I was exhausted when I finished it. Point being, the concept of overwork never enters because I am responding to an erg that is seemingly outside of pure volition.

I can remember a time when I essentially ruined a drawing because I worked to slowly. Once I gained an appreciable degree of competence, I gained a degree of fluency that determined the direction, and what; substance, quality, character, and vitality, which dictated the effort necessary to complete the work without regard to overworking. Being self-taught, without the potential strictures of formal training may well explain the relative freedom necessary to access this creative flow that rarely result in overworking.

This is, of course, a personal statement, based upon my limited experience, and training. Yet the results are fairly impressive, as judged by the positive reactions of people that have seen them; often reading 'my' artistic objectives, or sources of inspirations. For that reason I must assume a genuine source of inspiration which largely, if not instinctively, avoids overwork.

I apologize if i failed to adequately explain the creative process, or inspiration that leads to products I sense are not overdone. I should note the need for, optimally, mindful thinking, and meditative repose, I believe is necessary, apart from, and a part of the creative process. No doubt, many artists achieve this naturally. Thank you for considering this personal view.

Robert, this newsletter has hit the mark for me especially. The "walking away" and leaving the painterly unfinished work has helped me enormously recently..it is where I'm only just "at", and I just know that the imperfections and unfinished painting says more about my way than all those I finished to their detriment. And I receive lots of compliments from other artists, which is the affirmation I so appreciate..thanks for this timely lesson...it took me 25 years to realize this, and I appreciate your affirmation, too.

The idea of suggestion, rather than depiction, is extremely undervalued in my opinion. You can manipulate it as another element of the picture -- line, value, shape, color and definition! Just be careful not to use trite symbols instead of a suggestion of your subject. Anything that pulls the viewer into your picture is a key to effective painting.

some of your letters make me think


how it is that one might assume authority over such art that exists as essence of a culture? frame the art of simplicity. creation belongs to one whose inspiration works, using what one learns along the way.

In my student days my teacher used to tell me that any artist who includes all the little details shows the whole world that he has nothing better to do.

In a lifetime of classes, I've always said (in my obvious non-Asia way)
"Better undone than overdone."

This letter came just in time. My gallery called today and many of my small paintings have been sold or on layaway. He's asking for more work, which means I will have to go back to acrylics and paint as fast as I can..which will loosen me up. This is where I want to be! Thanks for this insight. Have been reading archived letters and learning alot. Still painting at 74 and getting better I hope.

Yes. A larger brush, a large cup of coffee, and a short time limit can do wonders.

We have to slow down here in the West. I have a background in sculpture and ceramics and a really huge interest in both Korean and Japanese ceramics and the idea of allowing a piece to have its own flow and life is very important to me, even if the piece might be a little fat over there and make a little wobbly over here. Those attributes give the piece a life of its own, maybe the pot sits there and sags a little but says "I am not in any hurry, why are you?" and lets someone slow down just for a little bit.
Now drawing for me is just the opposite, I tend to want to detail things overly OR I leave them so unfinished and vague that oft times I am not even sure where I was going, if anywhere, with the drawing!!
There is certainly a cult of completion in the West that maybe ought to be abandoned just a little so we can truly appreciate the unspoken.

At university I took a painting course the instructor of which was a native Japanese, now an expat. He taught painting in his version of the traditional Western mode. Some students, in a misguided effort to impress him, painted elegant minimalisms, much as are to be found in the watercolors and inks of Japan. One day he pronounced, in his adequate but accented English, lapsing, as if often did, into American vernacular at the end. "Do not paint Japanese way. Simple nothing is nothing. Perfect nothing is still nothing. Less is less. Why paint single chrysanthemum when whole world surrounds? Chrysanthemum been done. Paint wide world! Less is cop out!" At least this is how I remember it, said with passion. He was a wonderful calligrapher, by the way.

This is such a good observation! I have been working on a series of figure groups, and started a new one while leaving the overworked old ones alone for a while. What a nice thing to take a big brush and have at it! The freshness is compelling.

Over the last few years I have purposely set out not only to leave things incomplete but in several of my oil paintings you can see pencil marks where I drew out the image before painting it. I have even more recently worked in just oil and graphite pencil finding the tonal values in the oil with the graphite in the same way a drawing on paper evolves. The general comment from the lay person is that it doesn't look finished, but from my peers they love the underdone look.
You can view some samples of my work on
http://sandra-taylor-.artistwebsites.com

I recently heard an artist say that a large, well placed brush stroke can convey more information than many small strokes. I am paraphrasing two quotations that I have stayed with me about overworking a painting: if you think the work is 80% finished, chances are it is 90% finished, and the other... it takes two people to paint a picture...one to paint it and another to take it away before it is overworked. In my painting class often students will tell each other to STOP, the painting is great...finished, more often than not, the painter continues until it is no longer as fresh as it was. The poor paint can be worked to its demise as well; I often see artists stroking the same paint over and over until the paint is no longer beautiful, but looks dull and muddy. So, hopefully your words will help to end any urges that I might have to overdo as I use the concept of Mikansei...the Zen of "incomplete".

As a children's book illustrator, my biggest fear is expending the best and most exciting energy in sketches, no matter how quickly executed. I often need to empty the rubbish bin several times before regaining the fresh quality of the initial explorative sketches.

Having lived my first nine years in Japan, it is the basis of all my artwork. You would think that I would know by now not to overwork a painting, but often I'm struggling with what exactly I'm trying to say in a painting, mistakenly thinking that the more i paint, the sooner I'll discover, or stumble onto the answer. But overworking a painting kills it, giving it a labored, stiff look that no amount of fixing can change. Trouble is, the general public adores that "overworked" look! Unsophisticated art buyers will much prefer a painting that has more detail than neccessary and will dismiss the simple perfection of a work with minimal brush strokes. This is a problem when one is trying to sell work to pay the bills. Does an artist create a separate line of work depicting familiar landmarks in excruciating detail in order to sell? Or does artistic integrity prevail, with the artist striving for his own level and lack of finish? There aren't enough educated art collectors who can appreciate the loose, gestural, ambiguous type of painting, and they usually want to collect famous or newly famous emerging young artists. What to do? One could always eke out a living painting familiar things in realistic and painful detail - and most folks will think it great art and even buy if the price is low enough, but will the artist improve, or just be demoralized for painting "potboilers". Still, Japanese woodblocks prints were considered art for the common people when they were done. They were not considered fine art back then - but they sure look good now, certainly not the crass commercialized product that they were originally meant to be. But Claude Monet and Van Gogh were inspired and influenced by them.

I agree with you completely!! I believe that artists are like poets; they use brushes and canvases instead of pencils and papers to tell the story of a subject. I want my paintings to draw the viewer in as a participant with hints of background and unfinished areas. I think this makes for a more interesting painting and has been the basis of my work over the last year.

I’d like to hear from other fiber artists regarding incompleteness and slight errors. Many of us are still obsessed with technical perfection, maybe due to the craft and domestic sources of our methods, where the goal was to make home made items indistinguishable from those made by machine. We seek perfection, yet perfection makes our work lifeless, boring and impersonal. Let’s rise above the mechanical and enjoy our process.

Catherine Reed aka Bouteloua

Overstatement is the key to boredom.

Bores talk too much. Painting bores use too many strokes.

Incompleteness is a path I've been following recently in my dollmaking. It's quite a challenge when building form three-dimensionally with a variety of materials. The body of my Mistress of the Owl melts and merges with her indistinct gown and the frozen snow. My current project involves a male figure floating amongst and emerging here and there from swirling cloud-stuff. In sculpting, "an elegant, well-contemplated stroke or two" can take days to develop!

Funny thing, harking back to a reference you made recently to FTAS (Fingers and Toes Avoidance Syndrome), I've noticed that no matter how much of a figure I may obscure, hands will be the last to go. The irony is that hands are the most difficult part of the figure for me.

I agree completely that achieving this kind of simplicity in a painting is difficult as we seem to need to correct and overwork the painting. The haiku is a very effective a poetry form because of the sparseness of words. Haiku relies completely on the imagination of the reader .So, too ,does abstract painting . I find that my life drawing sessions with a live model really help me to simplify . especially the one minute and two minute poses which demand that the artist draw fast without much apparent thought . Consequently there is no opportunity to overwork the piece ...the beauty is in the drawing that is incomplete and under-worked.

Whenever I show a beginning work to an artist chum (also an architect who comes from the 'School of Less is More') he often remarks, 'it's done' ( illustrated in the above photos). The same with number two below. But I always feel compelled to go with my instinct and keep painting, and it is all about colour. I used to question whether I ruined a painting because I kept going but fact remains that I never have regrets, just wish I had both versions to sell!

Being a "Western woman" I think that our eyes have evolved to best function to stimulate us, the beholders, when the image viewed is incomplete. Our brain fills in the gaps. I know I prefer art that is not totally spelled out as it is somewhat insulting.

What a wonderful principle. This is exactly what I have trouble doing, stopping before noodling. And now it has a word, "mujo."

Finally, I am in tune with your current writings. For the last several months I have been painting with a state of incompleteness. Perhaps it's merely a phase am going through in developing the art and this too will change. At any rate this suspension between reality and a dream like quality is an answer to the day to day "reality" and find it brings some satisfaction in developing the work.

One of my favorite stories is of a Kindergarten teacher who's students always had excellent art-work on display. When asked about the formula for her success as an Art Teacher she smiled and said, "I know when to take it away from them".

What an astute essay on the unfinished business. Now I understood the meaning of Unfinished Symphony. It bothered my whole life until dissertation. Of course we Latinos have known this for a while and countered the Japanese Moo-Joh with Mu_cho. Not that we try to make a lot of it but it's like we like Maximoom pleasure in our life. That's why we sing most of the time and have all these fiestas about anything occurring in our lives. Especially when we're dealt the fickle finger of fate with a poor hand.

One thing has not been pointed out. The way paintings evolved in the West is tied closely to deception. You don't always know what you are seeing, but what the artist wants you to see. Simple is not always simple and the other way around. Ad hoc looking paintings of masters are often developed through many sketches and constructions, and still seem effortless. Think Bacon for example - his art doesn't bore me at all.