When to keep going and when to quit….

Some say you should never quit, but others feel the most successful people know exactly when to quit. As an artist I have found that my best work comes quickly. When the painting just flows right out of me onto the canvas it is usually a very successful piece. However, there are those times when you finish the painting…love it…go to sleep…wake up…and think hmmm…not so much. Thats when you start to mess with a few corections here and a few over there. Before you know it its an entirely new painting. This happened with a painting last week. It was a gorgeous sky as the sun went down. When I returned to it in the am I realized it was too pink. But as most of you know when you change one thing, it creates a problem somewhere else. Much like painting a room in your home a different color and the rest of the house no longer works with that room. Paintings are the same. Each color relates to the one next to it and therefore when one is changed it can be a slippery slope. I will include the evolution of images (if I can get them uploaded that is!) and be interested to hear your points of view! The first is the pink offender…then they work their way to the final version.

Of course now seeing them in rapid succession….Im thinking I like the first one better!!

Version 1 – too pink!

This is version 2 – which is pretty close to first one.

This is version 3 – I actually like this one better no as I look at them together.

This is version 4 – which undoubtedly will not be the final version! It has become very soft and now I would like to see more color. I think I’ll paint an entire new version of this painting to free up my creativity and go for the big color!