When Is A Painting Finished?

collectors deciding which paintings to buy

When is a painting finished along with "How long did it take you to make that?" are questions that I hear the most.

As for how long did it take you to make?  "My answer is 60 years of practice. " I don't punch a time clock, nor do I write down my hours in the studio. I do know that because of all my 60 years of being a working artist, I never stop learning or pushing the techniques I use to discover my own voice.

"When is a painting finished?" Now that is another story. Sometimes I work on a piece until I think I can do no more and put it away for some time before I re-visit it. I just completed a painting that I "finished" three years ago. I like it much better now. I will post the changes next time.

Cold wax and warm shadows

These collectors couldn't decide on one painting, so they bought two.

encaustic, 24" x 24"

I have a viewing room where collectors can see one painting at a time in a relaxed atmosphere. The whole house is my gallery and it can seem like visual overload. Usually the client will get up from their chair and enjoy pulling older painting out of the stacks to see what they can discover. Here is also where I re-discover paintings that I am not quite satisfied with and either destroy or continue working on them.

The stacks

This array of paintings go back years. Some are the last of various series or painting I want to keep.

Why Learn to Draw?

When I was a freshman in the University of Illinois, majoring in art, we had to spend the first semester drawing in black and white. We also worked from plaster casts and human skeletons. We kept drawing until the image was perfect. I loved it. One time I chose a dried corn cob to draw because it was the most complicated. I carefully rendered each kernel. 

Later in my career, I was sometimes belittled because I could draw. One comment I received in a group painting from a live model was. "That looks just like the model!" And it wasn't a compliment. I suppose that statement was supposed to undermine my creativity. Another opinion, from an artist working in a gallery was a scornful pronouncement was that drawing isn't necessary to paint. My answer was that since I could draw, I could paint anything using the same principles , and he could only paint non-objectively.

This classical training has served me well. If you can draw, it is the basis of all future art creations.

More reasons to learn to draw: Wrtiten by Hessam Moussavi, Lead Civil Engineer - Oil and Energy professional:

Improved Creativity

Improved Memory

Improved Communication Skills

Improved Problem Solving Skills

Stress Relief

More Positive Emotions

Release of Hidden Emotions

Increase of Emotional Intelligence 

Improving the Senses

Better Hand Mobility

Becoming More Observant of Details

I particularly agree with the last one: Becoming More Observant of Details, and I know it improves hand-eye coordination.

The images below prove that I am not stuck with just drawing realistically. I use everything I know about space relationships and composition that I learned in my classical training.

A pencil drawing done when I was 18 years old in my first year in art school

Oil and Cold Wax Abstract

From the "Her Journey" series

Encaustic and Oil

Cover of a Magazine

Seated Nude, Encaustic

Latest series, "The Lightness of Being" encaustic and mixed media.

Actually Painting with Encaustic

Encaustic painting still seems to be fascinating and drawing more and more people into trying their hand at painting with hot wax, resin and color.

In my mind, it almost seems like a cult and there are teachers all over the world offering classes in encaustic. It is fun for everyone. Lots of participants in classes just want the experience of using heat to see the colors move and make a more or less shiny surface.

I have taught hundreds of students in my encaustic workshops and after the first day of getting used to the heat source and seeing what happens when the colors move by themselves, I guide them into thinking about composition and negative space. I claim that my students often make more accomplished paintings than some "teachers". http://ezshwan.blogspot.com/2018/09/none-of-my-students-make-same-painting.html

My house mate, Cynthia Hamilton has mastered the encaustic technique. Her paintings are abstract, with the most beautiful surfaces I have even seen. Cynthia has also worked in this medium for 20 years. She is my daughter, but I did not teach her. We started at the same time; I was in Ashland OR. and she was in Brooklyn NY. She first saw the encaustic technique in Italy and I discovered it in Portland OR at a gallery.

We do not share a studio, so her finished paintings are a happy surprise to me.
Below are some of her newest encaustic paintings. I wish you could see the touch the glass-like surface. I love to pet her paintings. It is a sensual experience.

60 Years of Making Art Video and Encaustic workshops

I have been sending this video privately to my subscribers, but now, this once, I am sharing it publicly.:https://vimeo.com/121501428

Of course since I made this I have continued creating and newer work can be seen on my website. www.ezshwan.com

And here is my recent announcement for the upcoming encaustic workshops.

Dates of workshops:

June 17 & 18, July 15 &16, August 19 &; 20, Sept. 23 & 24

Check out the workshop blog: http://ezshwan.blogspot.com/ for the details

Abstract; Back to Figurative

For the past 9 months, I have been working on my latest series, "The Lightness of Being" http://www.ezshwan.com/new-work.html and it has been a wonderful creative adventure. I challenged myself to explore different ways to use encaustic with mixed media. Some of these paintings will be in a 3 month show in what I think is the best, most beautiful gallery in San Miguel de Allende , July, August and September.

I may eventually go back to this style, but right now, I am having a break that is fun and keeping me smiling; painting images from old photos of my childhood, and that was a long time ago; a simple time. I have just started. I only put in a couple of hours yesterday, but I am looking forward to getting back into the studio.

I have been working as an artist for a very long time and have no intention of stopping

The new painting, "Here, There and Everywhere"

Begining paint sketches

starting with ink washes on pieces of canvas

Another oldie , a cover of a magazine from about 2002

Online Encaustic Classes

I love teaching encaustic students in my studio. They get individual personal attention and I get to meet people that I otherwise would not meet; sometimes it is not possible for students to get to San Miguel de Allende, so I offer online classes for those who have the basic encaustic experience. Here is the link for the classes https://vimeo.com/ondemand/4167

Check out more about the classes: http://ezshwanwindingencausticworkshopvideos.blogspot.com/2013/08/online-encaustic-classes.html

An Artist Can Only Paint What Is Inside Of Them

I have always felt that painters paint who they are. When I look back on the many years I have been a working artist, it is almost a catalogue of my life, experiences and emotions.

A friend, an artist ,who was my first encaustic student when I moved to Mexico almost 15 years ago, says he likes to paint chaos and uses mostly black on his very large paintings. One of his series is called Melancholy and the Lost. There are symbols that look to me like nuclear clouds. He was the one who told me that to be recognized as a Mexican artist, I had to paint angry art. That is never going to happen. The deeper I get into my spiritual, meditation practice, the less I want to bring more tension in my work.

I have spent a few hours going through images going back to about 1968 and almost got lost in memories of where I was emotionally when I made these paintings. Nothing stays the same and it is interesting to see my artist's journey following my physical and emotional journey. All of these images are figurative.

Since last August, 2018, I have been working on my series, "The Lightness of Being", all abstract. www.ezshwan.com (If you would like to sign up to receive my monthly newsletter, there is a form on the welcome page.)

I did not start photographing my work before the 1960's so the examples are all after that date.

about 1968

1969

about 1975

1978

1976

 

1987

The Circus Series, 1989

Every Woman Is A Goddess, circa 1991

Her Journey, A Woman's path to self-realization ,circa 1993

circa 1994

1995

1999

2000

The Love Letter, 2016

2017

2018