I follow a number of blogs that painters produce. One of them is Dana Cooper (danacooperfineart.blogspot.com) who has been taking a workshop with Carolyn Anderson (carolynanderson.com). Carolyn's work is very fresh and understated. Her brushstrokes are exciting and thinly applied and she captures the essence of the subject in her work. I worked to smooth everything out in this painting of Candida. She looks separate from the board. I am always asking myself how far to go with the quick oil sketches. Someone in our live drawing session said she thought my work looked unfinished. My husband likes this one because he also likes a finished look. I don't really feel that way. How much do you need to say? There is such beauty in seeing an image barely immerge from a canvas, like someone coming out of a fog. There is a real connection with the process...the brush strokes and the paint. I am going to think about this when I go to the Chaffee on Thursday.
Like you, Christine, I like the "unfinished." To suggest and allow the viewer to complete, I think is wonderful. And I so want to go to a Carolyn Anderson workshop!
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