Finishing Touches

So I take my brush and paint and canvas and all my other tools and paint something charming. Occasionally, the final details are exactly what my work doesn't need.

Back when I started painting in earnest, I didn't have any idea when to say "when". Between the elaboration here and the embellishment there, many of my works ended up leaning roughly in the direction of ruin. This was especially disappointing when I had felt so close to creating something I could be proud of. And when I used acrylics and couldn't undo what I had done quite so easily as with oils.

At first, I stopped adding in my final details altogether. A lot of my art ended up with a distinctly unfinished quality. These days I try everything from sleeping on it to adding in minor touches before deciding how much finishing is needed.

I haven't quite perfected it yet, but things would be terribly boring if I had!