Stick around a group of artist for any time and you are likely to hear some variation of  "Damn, had a great painting an hour ago!" Meaning, that the additional hour of labor, did the artist in. No photoshop "undo" here, just go on, or grab for the can of gesso, and hope something is learned. Putting paint to a "finished work" is not for the faint of heart. But, it is part of the mystery of painting, or possibly, all craft. A little more can improve, but too much is a disaster.  The king of endless change might be George Inness, a Hudson School painter, who could have 27 or more coats under the surface of a finished painting.  

I continuously edit my work. That is, until it is either at the gallery, sold or covered in white gesso ready to reemerge as a new vision, it's always fair game for more paint. This post features two images demonstrating how that process works, sometimes. The first is a painting that I completed a year ago, that recently had a fresh brush put to it.

Original - January,  2019

Here is the after.  

Stand Tall and Fresh, March 2020

24"x35" Oil on Canvas

Subtle, but hopefully, all are improvements. Most of the edits were around the foreground pond, the addition of two more trees and some lightening up in the background. For now, don't see any future changes, but its not hanging yet.

JMW Turner, the British Painter of the 1900's is said to have traveled with a small pallet of oil paint and a brush, to allow him to change any of his paintings. Stories tell of  several purchaser's surprise at looking at a Turner piece hanging in their home with wet paint on it the day after Turner visited for dinner or spent the night. Thought about it, not done it, yet.

Well back to the easel.

Greg Matthews

March 2020