Pencil, watercolor, gesso on paper, with digital enhancing.
I think I have about 100 small, unfinished drawings/watercolors in a pile on my art table. Most get abandoned because I get stuck and don’t know what to do next. I set them aside, hoping that if I revisit them later with fresh eyes, I can save them.
I’m not so very sure about that. It’s happened only a couple of times. I think the revisits don’t often work because there is something fundamentally “wrong” with them that causes me to lose interest part-way through in the first place.
(For example, in the above little painting it was a composition issue; I used Photoshop to obscure another creature that wasn’t working as well.)
What to do with all of these failed/in-process/potential pieces?
I’m not sure. I can’t seem to get rid of them, though!
carlasonheim.wordpress.com 
Carla,
Turn it on its side – it looks like there is a seahorse in there 🙂 Now I can find that for you, but, boy, am I sort of stuck with my giraffes right now. Tomorrow I might have better success with the bits and pieces on my table.
It’s been a long time since I’ve commented. Not due to lack of compliments your way just time and effort It goes without saying , not enough, how much I adore your artworks. They have a sweet creative innocence that tugs at my heart strings.
It pleases me to hear you have some unfinished artworks. Hah! Good positive call on recognizing the “fresh eyes” approach.
You questioning what does one do with these failed/in-process potential pieces? Tweak them, set them aside once again, use them as additional collage pieces , tags for my artworks purchased, large pieces are for gift wrapping purchased paintings. A bit of art with your art. I’d love to have your so called “failed/in-process potential pieces! ❤
I can only wish my discarded painting looked that good. I love it.
Ha… well, I liked that PART of the painting a lot, too! (Remember, I cut out the bad part…)
1. Have a “As is Sale” – don’t sign them, sell “as is”, one person’s trash is another’s treasure
2. Cut them all apart and recreate new Collage Creatures
3. Give them away to a children’s charity.
4. Use them for mixed media projects
5. Give them all a proper burial acknowledging that not everyone can be “saved”
If you don’t do something and they ARE abandoned I will have to report you to the proper authorities for “cruelty to animals”. You don’t want that on your record Carla, do you?
So funny, Judith!
Hi Carla,
Do you do collages? They could become great backgrounds perhaps?
Enjoy your day
Rae Smith
Townsville, Australia
CuriositytotheMax #3 Give them away to a children’s charity is an excellent idea. In the classroom we never throw away our artworks because it’s contagious. One throws it in the trash everyone wants to start over. We used to have a basket to dispose of these and later I would put together on mat, index cards and scraps of paper and frame them to go to hospice, nursing homes, assisted living facilities. They were most appreciative. The administrator would always say what a delight it was to have them. Especially the ones with tags with ribbons to place on doorknobs or back of wheelchairs or at their place setting for eating. Thanks for the memory of this. I forgot about that. And thanks for you Carla~ your paintings bringing nothing but joy!
Cut the critters out and collage them on a new background. Do an art exchange. Send your discards to favorite artist friends of yours and they have to do the same. Then see what you each do with the other’s discards. Then you can write an article about it for Somerset Studio or better yet, a new book, “Upcycling Imaginary Creatures”.
I would definitely cut them up and put them in my collage box!
Just keep at them, each time you will get more brave…you have nothing to loose.
Good luck and good thoughts sent your way!
Vicki
turn them upside down and see if something happens. If not, cut them up and consider them potential collage material.
Ha! Some good ideas. How about a circle pass. Pass it on have someone add a line and pass it along.
Publish another book, a workbook to challenge the readers to complete the drawings for you! 🙂
I love the stiled effect of its legs and the dark eye. It is almost as if it saw something it did not want to see. Have a show of unfinished works.
I think the reason you don’t care for this one as well is because it doesn’t look very light hearted. The background is so dark and and the whole tone is serious. Maybe he needs big eyes and a smile?
You could post the unfinished pieces online as a challenge to your online readers to finish them. If they are posted, then we could see what other people would do with them. You can call it a collaboration. 🙂
I am glad you told on yourself about your “failed” watercolors, it helps me to understand my “failed” pieces a little better. Some of my failures have been torn into pieces and used to begin other paintings or drawings (I treat them like your sidewalk crack exercise I love). I have also used pieces for ATCs.
Hi Carla, this is just a thought…give them to someone else to finish. Progressive dinners move from one house to another…progressive drawings could do the same. My family did blob paintings together two summers ago. My daughter Zoe taught the class (11yrs old then) Sometimes she had us paint our blobs then pass them on to be drawn on.
Thanks for all the great suggestions! Pondering….
Why not accept that some will never work and throw them out ? Accept that it is part of the process and your style of working. Reworking might not be the thing for you. Being rigorous in selection can be very refreshing, like a spring cleaning…;-)
I love your work !
You cannot always make something beautiful out of a mess. But you can get rid of the mess and start fresh again.
It’s a thing I am starting to learn very slowly: letting go. Letting go of that drawing and see it as another step in the learning process.
But you can also send it to me 🙂
Do what quilters do: Tie them up with a little piece of string. Put them in a box on a shelf. One day, “someone” will “discover” the heirlooms and do something with the found treasures. Everybody wins! You clear off your desk and leave a treasure for someone’s discovery.
I love that picture, mabey you could crop the left side–he would not have a tail but he would not be so centered. Thanks for all of your posts, I think you are so amazingly creative. Thanks, Mary.
Sent from my iPad
Hi Carla! I have a pile just like that too! And I do the same thing. I look at them from time to time but I just can’t bring myself to “fix” them or throw them away. Sometimes I imagine in 100 years someone will find them stuck in a closet and think they are all fabulous, 😉