Re-working Art

Rob,

I do this all the time. After a while it dawns on me what's wrong; sometimes it's a minor thing that makes a difference. Sometimes it's a couple of big things that really matter. I think like most art (writing for example), one is never done until someone takes it off of your hands - "Take my art, Please"! Or, said another way - the final art piece is nothing more than a series of corrections, most for the better.

Okay, here it is. Didn't take pictures of the corrections - sorry. Just know there were a lot on those tiny faces of me and my wife when were "the way we were."

True that they say most art is never finished just abandoned.
pleas post and example would love to see improvements or even a well shouldn't have done that.

I have before both making minor adjustments and also completely changing a work into something else. For instance I have taken a colorful pattern that I used for fabric and other products at my other Pod and turned it into an abstract piece that I offer for sale here. As with this one that started out as a red yellow and white tribal zigzag pattern.

Rob,
When it's your sole source of income, the goal is to finish it and sell it! lol

I only rework them if a client makes a request.

Even when a client wants a redux of a painting that is not available, I don't change anything except the date it was painted.

Hi Rob,,

I am in my stage in life where I don"t worry about selling and making money as Marlene stated. However I do remember them days. I am now semi retired, but still paint everyday. I look back over my many paintings often and rework them. Hopefully I made improvements to them.

Keep reworking!!!

Tony

I do it all the time.

I'm sure there's a data entry dude somewhere in the halls of FAA who's got a voodoo doll of me with pins sticking in it sitting on his desk.

Normally I don't re-work my art but this year I've done it to a couple of my pastels. I used to like to leave a lot of my tinted paper in the background but recently I've been covering it more so I added more background to a couple of my dog portraits. Here is a pastel portrait of a Maltipoo that I originally did in 2014 and its re-worked version done this year.

LOL, Lois!!

I've done that often! Why not!

I have reworked countless Paintings and drawings from the 1980s, elevating them to new heights. I seldom throw out all the campuses but keep them for possible future consideration… In other words original failures that might see a new life later on

I only do that with old work. Now I even do that on my own new work.

My voodoo doll is on the next desk over Lois.

Dave

MM Anderson
I definitely think it was a good call I like #2 better
But if you knocked out the background and made it a PNG the first one would work better on tee shirts.

Marlene
That is one of the main reasons I like to sell them, that makes it truly finished.
although I did have a client call me once after ripping the canvas while moving.
I patched it but couldn't help myself, I refreshed a few other thing, and gave it back to them they didn't even notice.?!?

That is the reason I do not like to hang my own work in my home. It doesn't seem to matter how satisfied I am with a piece; if I look at it long enough I will want to change something.

I do it with photography by way of re-shooting a subject, sometimes years later... sometimes with different environmental conditions, time of day, weather, etc., and sometimes with digital manipulation. My motives are varied... Before I ever considered putting prints of my work up for sale on the web, I shot low resolution because I wasn't considering one day they may be printed. Also, other reasons might be... I think I can do better, especially with more experience under my belt... I want to improve...I have new or better equipment... I love to experiment... I love variety... I find myself coincidentally with another opportunity for capturing the subject, hopefully with a different perspective... reasons could go on and on.
Here is one example that came to mind. A decade had gone by between the two versions, and changes had occurred to both the subject as well as the photographer and his equipment...

My Example:
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . First Capture in 2007. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Second Capture in 2017 . . .
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What we're looking at...
A unique 7-sided oriel window on the corner of a building in South Baltimore. This architecture was found near the Baltimore Museum of Industry. A weathervane rests atop the structure on the second floor roof (now). You can see from the original (first) capture, it wasn't there. You may also notice among other things that the under-supports are now gone, unlike in the original capture.

An oriel window is a form of bay window which projects from the main wall of a building but does not reach to the ground. Supported by corbels, brackets or similar, an oriel window is most commonly found projecting from an upper floor but is also sometimes used on the ground floor.

Oriel windows are seen in Arab architecture in the form of mashrabiya. In Islamic culture these windows and balconies project from the street front of houses, providing an area in which women could peer out and see the activities below while remaining invisible.

wow very fun! both are nice
but I really like the colors, clouds and weather vane in 2017

Thanks for the response Rob.

Even on my initial photographs, I almost always take more than one shot of a subject and not always for the obvious reasons. Let's just say that if you take multiple shots (and who's wasting film these days in this digital age)... the quality will not be identical between images, even if they're close. One will be just a tad sharper on the main subject than the other, or a bit better exposed, or whatever. It's become almost a reflex and more than a habit for me because I also shoot 3D stereo "pairs".

A stereo image is made of two shots from slightly different horizontal perspectives and later combined and aligned during processing. The slightly different perspective shots can be made in several ways but when I'm using a single camera you simply take one shot, then shift your weight and take another shot trying not to move the camera vertically too much. A little can be compensated for. In any case, this technique is called a "Cha cha" method. After shooting a lot of "cha chas", even when shooting 2D it becomes second nature to do several shots of the same thing, shifting your weight for a slightly different perspective angle between them. Lately, I've even started merging these two shots together for a slightly wider image when processing my 2D shots, something that never occurred to me until I had done a few panoramic images and used the Photomerge feature in Photoshop. Sometimes a little extra width can make a difference in a composition. Of course it can always be cropped.

I re-work my pictures all the time. Some of them I made years ago as an editorial photographer or documentary photographer. I've had to give them more of an art look, and now with newer technology since I made the first edits there are new options. Below is one example:

Old and New:

I have done that a few times. I do wonder about one of my paintings that got a ribbon in a show, but has not sold. Now I see areas that could be reworked because it is acrylic. Should I?

I have been temped to change things a long time after something is done, but most of the time I leave the original alone and just do a whole new version of a painting to see how much I have improved. I actually have series where I take an old work and do a new version for that very reason, usually the original work is one I did as a kid but every once in a while the two pieces will only be a few years apart.

These two were done ten years apart. The original was done when I was 15.


@Rob, I noticed that it looks like you still have the original of each of those offered for sale, you may want to remove the prices for original on the one that you painted over since an original of that version no longer exists.

First Version (2011)... Second Version (2017)

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Abbott's Mill in Greenwood Delaware, reflected in Abbott's Pond. Greenwood is near Milford DE. This is a 200 year old historic Grist Mill which is maintained today as Abbott's Mill Nature Center by the Delaware Nature Society. The Nature Center has over 100 acres of forest, meadow, and wet-lands to explore and enjoy!

I just recently did this. It was frustrating at first as I was trying to recapture the expression and feeling of the first work but when I let go and allowed the new painting to emerge on it's own I was pleasantly surprised at just how much better the second one was. I think re-creating offers a lot of lessons.

A Winter image of the railroad bridge spanning the riverbed in Gunpowder Falls State Park in the N/E side of Baltimore Maryland (Facing Northeast).

Two new versions of the same subject... One created from merging two horizontally formatted images for a wide view... The other (Narrow View) created by merging two vertically formatted images...

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Shana
that is a great Idea, not sure I could ever do that. Fun to see the improvement
sure like the newer version.


Brian & Frank
Thank for sharing! Very interesting to see what exposure and cropping can do.


Val
That Haven't done... taking one of the wall after Framing is crossing the line. LOL
Never say never.

Martha
That is scary, make sure it has a good coat of workable finish on it then if you hate , you can wipe it off.

Julie
I think you nailed it.
we are always learning and getting better.

Thanks all been interesting.

I've been reworking pieces digitally to get effects that i can't achieve with ink and paint.

Here's an ink drawing


And the digital rework

Regina
I really enjoyed look through your work
I love abstracts but I usually can't stop and have to but some detailed animal in.

I Noticed a lot of refreshed and reworks in your portfolio, I think that is what I worry about I never know when to stop.
I need someone to slap my hands and take it away and say you are done.

Thanks for sharing!

Rob,
I will sometimes refresh and rework specifically for POD - fabric tiles and reworked huge files. But also there are always some pieces that just don't get any traction. Reworking is easier than starting with a blank canvas.

With abstracts, I can understand your urge to add something recognizable. I think that recognizable objects help many people translate the visual "language" into the language of words that we use constantly. There's nothing wrong with giving people an anchor or bridge into your abstract work. In a way I'm fortunate - SciArt can be very abstract while still providing those visual anchors to "reality". Data, concepts, and devices can be pretty "abstract looking", but are still incredibly meaningful to those who work with them. This allows me to work with highly abstract geometric forms and still evoke recognition of "something" people can name.

This piece and it's relatives are getting that type of response from some folks in High Energy Physics. The geometries evoke cloud chamber and detector data, visualize a favorite theory, etc.

Old - a digital composition of the Supermoon I photographed in 2016... New - the same image resized with the addition of an original poem written 1-2-2018...

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"In The Wings"

Even Geese in the cold stillness of night,
Have a direction in their midnight flight,
In formation straight and tight,
They fly together 'til out of sight,

What becomes of them once they're gone,
The echoing fade of a honking song,
They flock and fly together as one,
In a mission, persistent, 'til it's over and done,

Safety in numbers,
They journey together,
Helping each other,
Through all kinds of weather,

Keeping the pace
Taking turns with the lead,
Keeping the faith,
Holding fast to their creed,

Is it the stars that show them the way,
An internal compass, some people say,
Awareness of land as they travel each day,
Or is it instinct and desire, that sway,

Whatever the lessons presented before us,
First come the lyrics and later the chorus,
With skill and luck, a melody ensues,
The syncopated harmony of notes that we choose.

With persistence, desire, and much fortitude,
We may strike a chord, that changes the mood,
For sometimes a change is all we need to see,
If it's in the right direction, and in the right key.


~ Brian Wallace (1-2-2018)

Every once in a while i look at an old image and either my moode has changed or i have new software to "play" with or i have a creative idea or.. or.. or.. i go and rework some of my images. two examples of what i mean:

First (older) Version first.
Here my mood changed






and this one - here my software was updated and new one bought.

About 15 yrs ago (when you could find many freeware programs), I found one that allowed me to "morph" an image. I played around a little with it and as time went by and PCs evolved, much of this old freeware that was designed only for the older machines became obsolete. When I obtained more advanced equipment and software years later, I often wished I could still use the older software. I could not, but at least I had saved a couple of images made with them albeit low resolution.

This following piece is a result of experimenting with morphing my own face (my standby and most convenient model/subject). I don't have the original image I started from on FAA but about a decade later I continued working on it with Photoshop and created a few more versions (seen below). In the meantime, I also learned to convert 2D to 3D stereo, so I tried adding some depth in a stereo format called "Crossview". You freeview it like one of those "Magic Eye" images by converging (crossing) your eyes and focusing on the middle image that appears while ignoring the outside. Not everyone is successful with this freeviewing method but if you are, it becomes easier each time and eventually second nature.

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I've been getting into acrylic pours the last few months and I love it! But I love them even more when I embellish them.

On Thanksgiving of 2011, I photographed this subject and created a 2D image in the style and technique of an OOF(Out Of Frame), also known as an OOB(Out Of Bounds). Christmas Eve of 2017, I rephotographed the subject for 3D stereo. While processing, I also incorporated the OOF or OOB technique in addition to the 3D stereo crossview format.

Old - 2D (2011) ... New - (2017)

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I also created a 3D anaglyph from the stereo pair I captured... Red/Cyan filtered 3D glasses required for viewing depth perception...

Happy 2018 Everyone.

I wish that the new year is promising to all of us in every way. We as artists are an original bunch.
We see the world a little different than most but want the world more beautiful. Art can do that!

Hans Zimmer
I like the changes you made definitely improvements which is hard to believe since the originals where so nice.


HAHA
Brian Wallace
you are out of control not sure how you ever finish anything. I would just keep tweaking never ending always out guessing myself.
really love the abbots trail out of frame.
I started building in frames in my paintings so I could break them and most importantly not have to pay for a frame just to sell it in a gallery

Darice Machel McGuire
I like both not sure which I like better? maybe turtle.
but then I am guilty of always having to populate my landscapes
I love the pour technique. I have to give that a try

Kip Krause

Thanks for the Happy New year wishes

so far it has been great
lots of work!

Thank you so much, dear Rob, for your wonderful note- That´s very kind of you to say. Glad and happy you think the changes were an improvement. Outmost happy you like both versions :o)

Hey Rob,
I recently started an OOF contest in FAA to try and bolster some activity in the group. It's been pretty stale for a while. Granted, the OOF technique is a bit out of the mainstream of most artists here although we see it every day of our lives in papers, magazines and on TV. Anyway it's a lot of fun to do and I even have included tutorials in the contest (linked from the OOF group discussion pages). I hope you give it a try and invite others as well. That goes for everyone reading this. :)

I often rework images. Sometimes it's a day or two later, sometimes a year or two later. I rework for lots of reasons. It could be that I've learned a new technique that I think would work well with an image. Or maybe my thoughts on the image have changed and I want it to say something different. This rework is almost a year exactly. I decided to keep them both.

Different software in processing...
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I don't have the before of this one, at least not uploaded to my FAA portfolio, so I just have to describe it. Before it was an experiment in minimalism more or less, I used relative thin paint and minimized the texture and kept the shapes simple. It was boring so I went over the whole thing with thick paint and a palette knife. I think it was on FAA only a week or so before I overhauled it.

Rob...I went from this..........but don't tell anyone,lol....re-working is so much fun....




To this........and lots of approvals/visits.......

Sometimes -and i don´t now if you would call it a reworked image- i do another version of an image right away and than i keep both. Stricktly taken it is a rework - just with not much passing time between the versions.

So happened with this one:
From


to

Original image captured one morning while preparing to go out fishing from my parents home in Chestertown, MD...


It finally dawned on me (no pun intended), that this could make a fine valentine themed image or card...
Re-shaped the sun into a heart...


I don't consider myself particularly talented at poetry but I thought adding a valentine poem could enhance it even more for that occasion...
Poem added...

When you work in wood such as this marquetry, nature itself has quite an effect of naturally "reworking" an image, as different woods age and change in color over time. This is the same piece, photographed five or so years apart. But with wood, it is hard to get the color accuracy just perfect, so neither photo was completely accurate,... just the angle of the lighting used can drastically change the look of wood, due to its reflective-like grain. I decided to display both variations, as some might prefer one to the other.

I decided I wanted a digitally manipulated version of this sunset with a color pencil effect and a scratched white border...

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These are from my Contemporary Collection.

Dave

From my Rustic, Blend and Inv Blend Collections.

Dave

Did it just again today :o)

from:



to:



And from:


to:



Aaand from:


to:

are you really re-working your art - or are you just getting around to putting the final touches to it?

RD, i don´t know to whom your question is directed - if towards me than yes, i did the images newly. Until just shortly i had no image of the union jack, or even the flag for that matter, so i could not process it in the way i did now. I took the old images of the cars, marked it/ém again in a time consuming process and than combined both. To me that is re-working an image,