Unfinished

"The Athenaeum"
Gilbert Stuart, 1796

I am often drawn to paintings that are not too finished, ones that are toeing the line of being "unfinished". Shown above is a very famous unfinished portrait, Gilbert Stuart's portrait of George Washington. It is quite obviously unfinished---as in, somebody died or quit in the middle of the work. Screech!---you can practically feel the brakes slamming on. Rather than this sort of abrupt quitting in mid-canvas, what I really love are

paintings that are intentionally unfinished, or perhaps "under-finished" might be a better word.

There is something about the lack of finish that really shows the artist's mark. The unfinished work sends me a clear message. It says "This merely a piece of canvas, but the artist has created on it a three dimensional world. It's magic!" Here is a portrait by Richard Schmid that is intentionally "unfinished", as well as a still life by him that is in the same vein. 

"Robin & Whippet"
(c) Richard Schmid

"Summer Blossoms"
(c) Richard Schmid

To my eye, the unfinished parts of the canvas highlight, or emphasize, the painted parts. But of course, it's easier said than done. It's no easy feat to make a painting succeed without covering the entire canvas with paint. 

"Traghetto"
Oil on Linen
(c) Maggie Siner 2009

Knowing how to successfully leave raw canvas exposed is an art unto itself. Maggie Siner has said she likes to tone her canvas with a neutral, medium value color--and then "It's halfway painted already---you only have to paint the parts that are not that color!" This can happen, but only if you are a master of color and value. See Maggie's paintings above and below. Fantastic.

(Title Unknown)
(c) Maggie Siner

For those are intrigued by the questions of "unfinished" paintings, check out this thoughtful piece, from the Huffington Post, which discusses the matter of "finish" from the Renaissance to today.

I will close with two recent paintings of my own.The first painting is one in which I intentionally chose not to "fill in" all of the water in the foreground. I think the tones of the canvas provide a nice balance to the buildings on the island, and the painting is completely believable as it stands. In the second painting, I tried to follow Maggie's approach, and let the toned canvas be a certain color and value of the subject. It's always a challenge to know when to stop: I am growing to appreciate the approach that "less is more". If I stop too soon, I can always move forward and add more paint, but it's hard to go backwards!

"San Giorgio II"
6 x 8, oil on linen
(c) Lesley Powell 2014

"Overlooking the Seine"
9 x 14, oil on linen
(c) Lesley Powell 2014
(sold)