HOW TO DETERMINE WHEN A PAINTING IS FINISHED?

I have a very simple method or rule to determine when a painting is finished, and I’ve always used it since the very beginning of my artistic life, more than 30 years ago. I used it since I was a little girl drawing all day long and painting in my Nonno’s studio with the remnants of color on his palette, and then in school. Nobody has taught me this method, I simply instinctively knew it.

For me, a painting is finished when I see it finished. I trust my inner voice that says, “Done”.

I don’t doubt or question it. I don’t think maybe I should do something more. If my heart speaks, I listen and follow.

I know you would like a less empirical system, but in my experience of decades of art- making, this is the correct and only answer.

Trust your heart.

And trust it again and again. You will notice over time that your doubt will decrease and your self-confidence will increase, until you won’t need to ask me (or anybody else) anymore. You’ll know when a painting is finished, because you’ll see it finished.

It doesn’t matter if for somebody else the painting needs more work- ignore them. It is your painting. Every painting is finished when the Artist who created it declares it finished.

Art, after all, is the expression of our unique point of view, how we see and perceive the world. And this is different for every single person on this planet.

Happy watercolor journaling, everyone!

xoxo,