To Share or Not To Share, That is the Question

View of Market Area & "Villages".  Philex Mines.  Acrylic on Canvas.  24" x 34.5".  Work still in progress.

Friends and acquaintances have been asking for my paintings but all I could do is apologize for constantly but politely turning them down.  Some have been asking for years already. :-/

There are five main reasons why I could only sadly decline their requests.


First, I only paint during spare time so most of my works are unfinished.


Second, I still want to hold on to the pieces since I am still learning and developing them.  It helps me to see and rework them from time to time.


Third, I think I have yet to reach the point where the pieces are good enough for sharing.


Fourth, paintings, especially when still very few are so hard to part with.  It's like giving away your first born child. :-(


Fifth, my skills are still limited and my interests and objectives so personal that I don't know if others may find them interesting.  Right now one of my goals is to make visual representations and translations (not mere copies) of places I love, grew up in and wish to preserve, particularly the Cordilleras' Baguio City and Philex Mines.

I have recently thought of exploring digital ways to hasten the completion of some works.  One method may be simply taking photos of paintings and doing quick edits like cartoon effects in Gimp just to give a feeling of completeness in details and lines.  After doing these quick edits then I could possibly have the image printed on canvas depending on the size that people want.  This may be worth a try.  Below is an example of an edited digital copy ready for printing.

A sample Gimped copy of the same unfinished work above, ready for printing on Canvas 

Another Gimped image of a recent acrylic on canvas.  View of Philex Mines from the Saint Louis High School area.

How I wish I could build from the light and joy of French impressionist paintings with Cezannesque  forms and rhythms and Van Gogh-like fluidity and expression.  Learning from the early Canadian Group of Seven landscape artists would also greatly enhance the vision.  The drama of an Amorsolo sunlight would also be interesting to explore but I don't know how that will sit with a Cezanne who doesn't like to focus on the drama of light.  For now, I just need to content myself with maximizing spare time and the use of technology.

What do you think about this idea of digitally edited (original) paintings printed on canvas?