Tutorial - How do you judge that a work is successful

Emma bulley has asked me to think about How do you judge that the work is successful?
Last night when I felt that the piece was finished, I stood back and just stood and looked personally for me it is successful because the image portrays the sense of threat, darkness, uncomfortable feelings which was in the forefront of the idea behind the painting, so in that sense the piece has been successful.

The area's where the canvas has been allowed to bleed through, which shows the first initial marks made, has created an extra level of layering within the work. again I believe in doing has lent itself for this painting to have worked.

However I do feel the background is the weakest area and after looking at the work of Callum Inness (b.1962) this has lead to be more aware of the background, therefore  for my next piece I am going to take more care? more interest I think is a better word in utilising that space. At the moment I believe that it has the sense of being an afterthought. I did not recognise this until after my tutorial.

Emma also spoke about the sensory aspect of creating work, and she has recommended that I need to create more sketches and express my thoughts and intentions within a journal, I could draw on instincts, for example how two animals react with another. 

The work of Callum Innes (b.1962) reflects monochrome within the sphere of abstract art. However the injections of colour are quite stunning.

Exposed Painting Dioxazine Violet - 2006

by Callum Innes

http://www.frithstreetgallery.com/artists/bio/callum_innes - Accessed 2.3.2011

"His paintings are created through a process of addition and subtraction, sometimes removing sections of paint from the canvases surface with turpentine to leave only the faintest traces of what there was before. Using this method of subtraction he has established his own vocabulary in the form of distinctive groups of paintings which evolve concurrently".

I really thought that Innes has an interesting practice to his work, and the idea of adding and subtracting paint as part of the process towards creating a piece has can have relevence within my work, and how I set about creating a piece.

Another artist who I have found to be very interesting is 'JR' he is a french grafitti Artist he calls himself 'a hybrid photograffeure' He uses photography producing large scale monchrome portraiture of people living in the poorest areas of the world.

http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/10/view/5456/french-artist-jr-and-his-kibera-photo-graffity-project-in-kenya.html  - Accessed 5.3.2011

This link shows the work that he has created in Kenya. JR and 10 unpaid volunteers went to Kibera, which is one of Africa's biggest slums, he turned it into a massive exhibition space. By using the portraits of people who live in this slums, these images where placed on train carriages and on the roofs of their houses.

What JR did was to use waterproof vinyl material and in doing this JR extended the art aspect to have a practical purpose as well.

JR states "They don't understand art just for the love of art, it has to make sense, by helping theirs roofs to become rainproof, we did make sense and they loved it".