A Bloom of Color

'A Bloom of Color'
36"H x 16"W
(click to see the full painting)

Students often ask me 'how do I know when a painting is finished?' The short answer is: When nothing bugs me and my eye wanders deeper and deeper into the painting, then I know it's done.

Even if I think I'm finished, I purposely set it aside overnight and work on another piece. Once I've emotionally distanced myself, I hang it on the wall, step back and analyze it. If anything is bugging me, I know it's not finished. The trick is knowing how to fix the bits that bug me!

In the case of this flower, during my first step back, I felt the bottom right was flat and threw the composition off-balance, so I added the barest hint of spent blossoms - circles with dripping paint. It made a big difference and I was really happy with it. However, when I looked at it on the wall this morning my eye kept flying off the top edge of the painting. I didn't want to lose the ray of sunlight... so I added just a faint wash of pale blue to darken the sky. I also helped draw the eye into the center of the painting by deepening the shadows on the left edge.

I think it's finished! Now to sign my name...