This is a large unstretched canvas I'm working on right now that could very well be done - I'll have to take a long, hard look tomorrow to be sure. If it's truly a complete statement, I'll call it finis and get to work on another. I like the various stages and levels in this piece. All sort of their own thing from the dripped underpainting first, to the automatic drawing in water soluble crayons, to the impressionist dashes of color to the final negative space white out.
The problem is - I could do more. Yet when I think about it, when I've been here with a painting before, I take it just that one step further and it becomes too complicated and everything about that painting that could have been finished is now painted over and going in a totally new direction. I think it's that I found a technique I like and I want to max out on it with this one canvas when I really need to move on. Let this be and take the ideas and inspiration I've got to the next and the next surface. So... I will be careful with this tomorrow, really study it and refrain from painting unless absolutely necessary. My husband says it's done and I tend to trust his judgment in the cases when he says "oo!" with that extra umph. (It's a hard job being the partner of a rabid painter). I'll let you know what the verdict is tomorrow.
