When is an Abstract Painting Done?

“From Here to There” on canvas 12x12. Check out this piece along with my other artwork on display over HERE.

If you dabble in abstract painting or if you are much more than a dabbler, you’ve probably asked yourself this question about a hundred times or more: “How do I know when an abstract painting is complete?” “When is an abstract painting done?”

Today’s question has popped up many times over the years, in every class I’ve taught, online Zoom meet-ups, and in emails from students or followers. Most recently, Idalina, one of my followers wrote in to share her frustration along with many others of just knowing when to stop and how to know when you’ve concluded with your painting.

I wish I was the one who could unlock the mystery for you with a neatly packaged answer to this age-old question, but the truth is, are we ever really done with any piece of art?

The longer I’ve had a painting in my studio, the more I see I could do to improve it. I could add something, change an area here, or wipe off an area there to almost every single one of my pieces.

But I don’t do that. I can’t do that. How could I or anyone else for that matter keep moving forward so that we could sell our work, or showcase it if we were only satisfied with perfection? There will always be room for improvement and that drives me to finishing my work so I can move on to the next exciting creative path on canvas or some other substrate.

What I strive for, is to do the best that I can do, today, or the metaphorical today—whenever my deadline is for my work to be completed.

Over time, you learn to ask yourself questions that help you resolve your painting so it can come to fruition. You will know what to look for and how to make improvements but not belabor or overwork your piece until it’s lost the life and energy you put into your art as you are creating it.

While I don’t have all the answers, I can share the process of how I finish my abstract paintings in hopes that this insight could perhaps help you, too.

I look at each painting as writing a book (or reading a book), it’s exciting to get started and I love learning about all the characters that I’m developing and looking for clues to see how the story unfolds. That’s the beginning of my painting. It sets the stage for the entire painting, but the end doesn’t come in the beginning. By that I mean, I don’t try to force my vision into the playful start. I allow the painting to unfold by trusting myself and knowing that I really can’t ruin it. There’s always a way forward, always. In this stage, I’m pretty loose with my strokes, and will use either big brushes, or other tools that are unpredictable like a catalyst wedge, palette knife, my fingers, etc. to lay in the paint.
1. Working through the middle part of any story is always messy. There’s a lot of information and activity coming at you, and you, the artist, need to determine what is important, or not important so you do a lot of editing. The steps include adding, substracting, revealing, and concealing parts of your painting.
2. As I get through the middle, I try to sit with my painting a bit more and see if the story I’m trying to tell or the experience I’m trying to communicate is working or not. If it’s not working, then I need to ask myself what could I do to bring it closer to what I’m hoping to convey through my art.
  If you familiarize yourself with the Principles and Elements of art and design, you pretty much will have all the questions and answers you will need to start narrowing down where it is should you go.
3. There are a few things I look for first and foremost and those things are: contrast, color, value, and line. While there are many other parts of the fundamentals, I find those are the first things I look for. The next area of importance is variety in shapes and sizes of patterns, areas in the painting, and forms that you’ve included. How interesting would it be to look at a painting that was one color in the background and then the focal points were 4 balls, all the same color and size right in the middle of the painting? Not very interesting but you would be surprised at how common of a mistake this is with beginner painters. The good news is that this is an easy fix.
4. As I move past the middle and look to finalizing the details, again, it’s like finishing a book. You look to ensure the main characters (and there can be more than one) that YOU, the ARTIST, want the viewer/reader to notice, are showcased in a way that draws them in. It holds their attention and while not a total surprise, it will keep your viewer engaged in your artwork. Not every area or element will be needed. You need to find ways to tie up loose ends. To get rid of things that are distracting and enhance what you feel is interesting.
5. I almost always finish by bringing out my detail brush to clean up edges, to add highlights and shadows, to ensure my piece tells a story of some sort and most of all, pleasing to me. When I start to be overly fussy, I put the brush down and call it a day. You don’t want to overwork your art, but you don’t want it to be sloppy.
How you bring your work to the finish line is going to be different than how I do it, but be gentle with yourself if it feels uncomfortable. Try to remember that this is not something that comes after one or two paintings. It’s a long-game, and one that you feel more comfortable with the more you practice. The more you do, the easier the answers will be. I know that’s not what you want to hear but it’s the truth. Think of something that you are an expert in and remember the steps you had to take to get there. Now imagine training someone else to do that same thing. What advice would you give your ‘mentee’? Follow that advice now for your journey into abstract painting.

Feel free to drop in your thoughts on how to know when a painting is finished. We all can move farther ahead when we share our gifts with our fellow artists.

Before I go-If you are interested in abstract painting, I have a wide variety of abstract courses available both in person and online ready for you to jump in. Just look for the tabs up above to navigate to both my online courses and my in-person offerings.

My featured in-person workshop this week is my BIG overseas trip to Ireland in June! We are looking for a few artists who want to experience more than just an art class, it will be a creative experience that will be with you for a lifetime. If you are interested in learning more or jumping in on the opportunity, be sure to go to: The Essence of Mulranny.