Comments on: My Painting Is Finished! Or Is It?

By: Gail Sibley

Gail Sibley — Fri, 28 Oct 2022 04:11:34 +0000

Thanks so much Sally!
And isn’t seeing Klimt’s work in the real something?! I too first saw his work in Vienna when I was travelling in my early twenties. I was blown away after only seeing his work in slides and books.
And thank you for looking deeply at my work.I think working lightly gives you the freedom to change and layer. And when you need to add the pastel heavily, you have the tooth (in the paper) to do it!

By: sally greenaway

sally greenaway — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 08:14:23 +0000

Gail thank you for sharing the process- very helpful as I work to redevelop my pastel power. I liked your finished work. I saw Klimt’s work in Vienna and was so impressed- now I have his images even on my mugs! I feel that you have taken the spirit of his painting and made it your own by introducing the viewer.
I was interested to note in the close-up detail that you don’t need to cover every square millimeter with pastel- I shall try to leave some breathing spaces in my color.

By: Gail Sibley

Gail Sibley — Tue, 18 Oct 2022 04:09:50 +0000

In reply to Michele. Michele, I'm so happy to know this was helpful. It was such a subtle change but when I saw what I did, it became glaring and needed some tweaking! It's a fine balance to tiptoe between finishing and overworking.

By: Michele

Michele — Mon, 10 Oct 2022 19:48:47 +0000

Thank you for this I always struggle to finish a painting but usually end up making it look overworked. You made subtle changes in the right areas to make it work. If you didn’t point out the problem with the background I probably would have accepted it as a finished painting.

By: Gail Sibley

Gail Sibley — Sun, 09 Oct 2022 04:14:57 +0000

In reply to E S DeSanna.

Hah hah…I think we all have a stack of those!

Interesting question ES…and I’m not exactly sure what you mean. And…I’m not sure if I would have an answer for you. It’s cooler, lighter, and greyer on the back of her sweater. I would have made those changes to show ambient light. But really, I can’t tell you why exactly. It’s fascinating to notice these things through a viewer’s eyes!

By: E S DeSanna

E S DeSanna — Sat, 08 Oct 2022 20:01:55 +0000

Yes! I love the term Creative Dormancy. In fact I have a box full of dormant paintings! The subtle changes you made definitely help the painting to finish. I do wonder if you had a reason for changing temperature/value of the viewer’s sweater right at the strap line of her purse? On such a small piece, it’s not so noticeable, but when you zoomed in…Just curious.

By: Gail Sibley

Gail Sibley — Sat, 08 Oct 2022 17:37:40 +0000

In reply to Ed Kramer. Ed - YES! That's it exactly!! Thank you

By: Gail Sibley

Gail Sibley — Sat, 08 Oct 2022 17:33:19 +0000

In reply to Linda.

Thanks Linda! I’m so glad you found me and this blog too!
And I appreciate your input. It’s interesting that your eye goes to the hair and I can see that that might happen. I was so concerned about getting the eye to move away from Gertrud’s face and doing all I could to make sure that happened. In the real piece, I don’t think the hair looks as dark or attention-grabbing as it does in the photo..but I’m not sure!

By: Gail Sibley

Gail Sibley — Sat, 08 Oct 2022 17:29:09 +0000

In reply to Lori O.. Yes! It really does help to take a break Lori. This is true for when you are working on a piece that takes time but especially as you are nearing what seems to be the finish line!

By: Ed Kramer

Ed Kramer — Sat, 08 Oct 2022 08:33:56 +0000

I can totally relate to finding a correction, when you came back to your work. It has happened to me on numerous occasions as well. This tells us, not to consider our work finished, until we’ve had a break from it and looked at it with fresh eyes!