How to make a Photo-Based Painting from the book: Creative Paint Workshop

I just love this book and so do lots of other artists, pop on over to Amazon to read all the great reviews of Creative Paint Workshop for Mixed-Media Artists!

I myself am learning so much from this book. It has been on my to-do list to really work on my artistic side lately (as opposed to my design side). Coming from an industrial design background I have a tendency to want every thing I make to have a practical purpose, but I really like making art for art sake and taking time and having a good book like this one to guide me really is inspiring.

Creative Paint Workshop for Mixed-Media Artists
Experimental Techniques for Composition, Layering, Texture, Imagery, and Encaustic
By
Ann Baldwin

Creative Paint Workshop for Mixed-Media Artists is a workshop-style book, oriented to the wide community of crafters and artists including those interested in paint, surface design, mixed media, and collage, which explores a wide variety of innovative and experimental paint techniques. Chapters cover composition, abstraction, texture, layering, using found objects, encaustic, integrating text, and adding digital imagery.

Ann Baldwin (Vallejo, CA) was born in London and lived there until 1990 when she came to live in the San Francisco Bay area with her husband. She began painting in 1991, after being a teacher of literature all of her working life. Within 18 months she was exhibiting landscapes in local juried shows.

Initially self-taught, she began studying art history, painting, color theory, drawing, and design she became known as an abstractionist, and later developed her text-and-image collages. As a full-time artist, she continues to break rules and experiment, currently with encaustic.

Click on the images to enlarge and read the full directions on how to create a photo-based painting. The directions are really clear and make it very easy. I think the outcome is really moving.

My question today is:

Do you have a trick for deciding when a mixed-media project is "done"?

I am finding this to be a bit of a challenge and I would love to know what others do.

As a thanks for sharing you will be entered to win a free book!

Comments

[Juliet A]

My never fail trick is to show it to my daughter (age 17). We give each other artistic advice all the time.

[MonkeyGurrl]

Hah! To paraphrase my mother, "It's done when I say it's done!"

[Cyndi - Dreams Unltd]

I'm not sure I would call it a "trick." I just let the piece speak to me. Most times when I feel it's not done, if I look carefully I see that something is out of balance. When I figure it out and fix it, it's done!

[Jennifer Conway]

It's hard to put into words, but just trust your "gut feeling". You'll just know if it's done or not. If there's a little something that just bugs you, or feels "ignored", or "left out", then you know it needs a little something extra done to it. When you add some other element, you'll go "ah ha!", and know that it's finished. If you don't add the extra thing, it will always bug you (haunt you) that it's not finished, or just not quite right.

Also - sleep on it and look at it with fresh eyes the next day!

*smiles* ~Jen

[Sharron Arnold]

As in painting, turn your work upside down, or look at it in a mirror. If it needs something else, that area will jump out at you. The idea being that by looking at your work in a different perspective, it appears as a whole new piece of work. Hugs, Sharron A in Aust.

[sheila johnston]

All of the previous comments are great. I do show my work to my husband son, and rely a lot on their comments. Looking at it upside down works, too. But for me, the real test is when I start fiddling: "just one more piece....a little more colour over here.
Then I know for sure that it's time to stop.

By the way, I love t his book. The step by step instructions are easy to follow.

[Eula McPherson]

I decide it's done when it no longer looks like it is missing something, but before I add things that make it look "busy" or muddy. I also use the upside down method and the mirror method.

[rush]

"done", huh! what i check for is balance of the larger images and connectedness. i stand back. i also take my glasses off so i can get a perspective about whether or not i can move around the piece visually and find that all areas have been addressed.

[wendy m.]

I sometimes use the upside-down trick that Sharron mentioned. I also will squint to see if anything looks too obvious or unbalanced. I like the mirror idea - I'll have to try that one, too.

[Kas]

When you can't think of anything else to do to it.