Throw-aways?

Joseph Brzycki · 04-18-2002, 12:00 AM

What are your opinions on throwing away artwork from your learning stages. When looking at some of my earlier stuff, I cringe at what I have made. Renior and many other artists have destroyed their early work because of dissatisfaction. I surely don't want people to see some of the stuff I have created, why not throw it away?

Chris Saper · 04-18-2002, 02:34 PM

Dear Joseph,

If it has value to you, keep it.

However, if you have kept it around because:

a) You think you might go back and 'fix'it; or
b) It's not good enough to sell, and maybe you'll give it to someone,

Then get rid of it. After all, you might get hit by a truck tomorrow, and all of your rejects will define the work of a lifetime, and you could end up like Renoir, where all the weakest paintings go on tour to venues like Phoenix.

Chris

Marta Prime · 04-18-2002, 03:04 PM

Although I have a pretty large storage area, I do like to purge out old paintings after a time and get rid of them. Never do this when your family is around or they get crazy on you and cart them off. I have a few really bad paintings that my kids had an attachment to and retrieved before I threw them out.

Then there is the story of setting them out near the garbage can because they don't fit inside and watching in horrified facination as he put it in his cab, instead of in with the other garbage. Ok, since then if there is one I am ready to purge, I take a knife to it and put it in the garbage. There is only one reason to keep bad paintings..to prove you really weren't born with a silver paint brush in your hand, you had to work at learning your craft and improve through a lot of trial and error. I still have a lot in my storage room that I need to go through and probably get rid of. (When nobody is around)

You can get emotionally attached to even the bad ones. One artist called these "Paintings that were being Punished" because she had them in a closet. I am pretty sure there was another thread somewhere dealing with this subject. Probably lost in one of thread within a thread subjects...

Nathaniel Miller · 04-19-2002, 12:48 AM

Being still in the "learning stages" myself, I begin every drawing and every painting knowing that I'll throw it away soon after finishing it. I keep the work long enough to learn what I can from it (sometimes a day, sometimes a year), then it becomes landfill.

For me it's more about storage space than my eventual reputation, and there's something a little relieving about throwing away something I've spent quite a bit of time on and am still not happy with.

Nathan

Michael Fournier · 04-22-2002, 11:39 AM

Hmmm, why throw out a good canvas when you can paint over it? If it has heavy application of paint scrap it with a razor then cover with under paint white. (MG white dries fast).

Also if the paint is completely dry you can use Gesso. Latex gesso will not stick over oils that are not completely dry. Now you have a canvas for those quick studies that can help work out a idea or composition or just any thing you want to practice and not worry about the cost of the canvas since you were throwing it out anyway. And If it comes out good then keep it if not scrape it off and use it over again.

Marta Prime · 04-22-2002, 04:00 PM

Michael,

Not that this isn't a good idea, because it certainly is.....however, having tried this scraping, sanding and re-gessoing etc., well, what a mess. And then I hated not having the "tooth" of the canvas to paint on. Besides, it doesn't feel very healthy to have a bunch of paint particles flying around. Although I don't use lead or other toxic paints, I still don't want to breath the stuff. I know this is not very frugal, but it's just one of those personal preferences. Potato, Patato.

Lon Haverly · 04-22-2002, 11:55 PM

I threw away a painting that I didn't like anymore, and my brother-in-law fished it out and kept it. He loves it and hangs it in his coast house.

I got rid of other paintings that I liked but never sold and were returned to me from a very prestigious gallery in Carmel, CA. I traded them to a trade organization for a roll top desk. One of the paintings turned up in a garage sale which had a $3 price tag on it! I quietly bought it.

So, maybe it is better to destroy a painting that doesn't sell, or you don't like. At least you have control over its destiny!

Mike McCarty · 04-24-2002, 11:01 AM

Consider the painting within your painting... As I look back at my progress as a painter there was definitely a phase (still lingering) where I would paint a large canvas and one section would be great (relatively) and 3 sections god awful. Going back and evaluating some of these I just cut the part I like out and reframe it. The following portrait comes from such a piece. This was a sprawling composition with a table centerpiece and two more dining room chairs. I worked so hard and it was dreadful. This is now 9 1/2 x 15. It still has its imperfections but it is of my daughter and I like to glance at it still, without all the baggage. Reminds me of both our developement.