Is It Done Yet?

"Alliance"

"11 x 14" Acrylic on canvas. $225.

Hello. For me, one of the most difficult problems to solve is when to stop. I have heard many stories over the years about artists who could never really stop altering their canvas. My favorite is the instructor who would literally take one of her paintings down, during a show, paint on it, and then put it back up. I was too dumbfounded to ask at the time, but ever since I have wondered if she took all of her gear to each show, or maybe just a small touch-up kit. Still, it does speak to the angst I think most artists have when deciding when to put the brush down and back away slowly. I have heard, "when you think it is 85% done, then that is the time to stop." Okay, no, that has never worked for me. If I can't figure out when it is 100% done, how will I know when it is 85% done. I am bringing this up now, because I am not sure if "Unity" is done. I spent a lot of time and used a lot of paint, trying to capture the perfection of my vase. I ended up with a very overworked vase. Next, I mixed a lot more paint, grabbed a big brush, then repainted the entire vase very quickly. I liked it. I decided that once the vase dried, I would go back over the vase with the lightest tint of the color I had used, mixed with acrylic glazing liquid. Egad! It looked awful, as if I had glazed it with thin yogurt. I took it off immediately, remixed, then repainted. All I got was a more colorful tint of yogurt. Again, I wiped it off immediately. By now, my vase was starting to look really good to me with no glazing. So, I think it might be done, or at least 85% done. "Alliance" is actually more green than it shows on my post. The colors and values are accurate on my computer, but they just don't show the same on my blog, which is another problem. Thanks for listening.

Penelope