One of my favorite art instructors, David Limrite, had a great blog piece today -- his thoughts on overworking a painting.  I share it with you here.

10 Thoughts On Overworking

Overworking a painting!

AAAGGHH!!

It doesn’t matter how experienced an artist you are. We have all overworked paintings and we will most certainly overwork some more. Overworking is a natural part of creating. Overworking happens. It is not, however, something to get upset about. If you overwork a painting, will it really matter five years from now? Probably not. Overworking is still frustrating.

With that said, here are 10 thoughts on overworking:

1. Apply a brushstroke of paint and leave it alone.

2. Make one or two paint strokes, stop, scoop up some fresh paint on your brush, and make another one or two strokes. Repeat. Do not make too many brush strokes before you stop to reload. Stopping often, even for just a couple seconds, gives you lots of opportunities to assess how things are going.

3. Get into a rhythm of working hard for 30 minutes and then taking a 5 minute break. Don’t work for 2 hours straight before stepping back to check things out.

4. Start a painting using as big a brush as you feel comfortable with. Or, better yet, use a brush that is bigger than you are comfortable with. Use this brush as far into the painting as you can. Move to smaller brushes only when absolutely necessary.

5. Keep your brush off of the surface of your painting more than on.

6. Work as far back from your painting surface as you can. Even if you have to slightly lean in a bit to make a paint stroke. There is a reason why brushes have long handles.Try holding the brush as far back on the handle as you can.

7. Do something unexpected to your painting. Often.

8. Focus on process not product. Detach from the outcome if you can.

9. Orchestrate a good balance of busy and simple areas in the finished painting.

10. Establish 2 or 3 goals for your painting. These goals will do three things for you. They will provide a place for you to begin, keep you focused if you get off track, and most importantly, let you know when you are finished. The painting is finished once you have accomplished your goals. Examples of goals could include interesting brushwork, good value contrast and effective figure ground relationships. Just to name a few.

Bonus tip: Constantly simplify and edit while you are painting. All the way to the finish.