What happened to January? Finally getting around to posting a new image. I have always had a problem of reaching a point in my work where a piece is obviously done … almost. The composition is set and only going in and pulling out a few details remains. It is one of the most pleasurable parts of the creation. Adding a little extra emphasis to a curved line or two in a figure drawing, a touch of cadmium yellow to bring out the highlights of the eyes in a portrait painting, deepening some shadows in a street scene. Enjoyable work, but also for me the scariest part. I’ve ruined more than one piece by overworking it. Sometimes months of effort destroyed in minutes by my overzealous passion to apply the final coup de grâce and take a piece from good to … better at least. So, I’ve grown tentative when I reach this point. True, digital work is a lot more forgiving and almost any mishaps can be changed, up to a point – but I still have a difficult time calling a piece finished. I think it was Monet who in his old age could sometimes be observed in the museums and galleries of Europe, shaking brush in hand, applying one more touch or two to paintings he had presumably finished many decades before. Maybe this is my fate and the cranky old guy you will see around DA forever updating the images in his gallery will be me.

Anyway, the result of this unreasonable phobia is that there are now scores of images on my hard drive that fall into this “obviously done … almost” category. I think it is time to be brave, be satisfied with what I’ve done, finish ‘em up and post the damn things. But, if I could tweak this one just a little bit more …