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As I was thinking about how to go about answering that perplexing question, I thought I would take you through some of the steps, both mental and physical, that bring me to the conclusion that a painting is finished. Using the above original watercolor painting of my mom, I will attempt to provide the stepping-stones that brought me to the realization that this piece had indeed reached completion.

My plan: I've been wanting to paint my mother again...for sentimental reasons, I suppose, to recall happy times when I would visit her at our family home in Michigan. I wanted it to be a happy painting. I chose warm colors to express kindness and grace.

My self-critiquing process: I try not to spend more than an hour or so working on a piece before stepping away from the painting, at which time I do one or more of the following to assess my progress along the way:

• I take photographs of my work-in-progress and remove the color in order to assess the values in my painting. (This is discussed in detail in my blog "Self-critique Tip: Photograph Your Paintings.")
• I hold the painting up in front of a mirror, often alongside the black-and-white reference photo to compare values and get a different perspective.
• I set it aside and simply look at it from a distance. I may take notes as to what I will want to work on the next day.
• I think about it. A lot.
• I often send the photo to an artist friend who offers her opinion...what the painting needs, if it is finished, etc. I consider (and appreciate) her comments carefully. In this case, she thought my painting was finished before I did. It just took awhile for me to agree with her!

My analysis: As a painting progresses, I spend more time looking, and less time applying paint! When I got to the point with My Mom that I felt like it still needed something, but I no longer knew what, I put her in seclusion under a stack of books on my flattening table. She was there for a week. When I brought her out, I still wasn't sure (I think I have more difficulty knowing if a painting is finished when I have a close personal connection with the subject, as was the case here). After looking at it for a few more days, I decided that, beyond a solitary splotch of color to adjust the value in one spot, there was nothing I could think of that would improve this painting. I liked the resulting colors, values, and harmony of the piece, and felt I had achieved my purpose. I had kept this painting fresh and resisted getting too detailed and, since I'm always wary of overworking a piece, I knew it was time to call it "finished." It was time to add my signature.

"When you've just done it, you're not sure. But when you've sat with it for a couple of hours and you don't want to do anything more to it, that's a great feeling. It can stand on its own two feet" - Damien Hirst

Okay, you say. But how and when do you really know? The answer is something that each artist has to discover for him- or herself.

Jean Pederson says it like this, "One of the most common questions students ask me when I teach is, 'When is the painting finished?' This is a really difficult question to answer because it's personal. Learn to step back and critically observe."

I've heard Ted Nuttall say something to the effect that "a painting is never finished; it just stops in interesting places."

In Gino Santa Maria's words: "A painting is never completed; it's just abandoned."

Lisa Marder says, "For some, a finished work means that nothing more can be done to improve the work. For others, it simply means they've achieved all they set out to achieve."

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the subject!

Paint. Love. Repeat.