[Interview with Erin Hanson from 2019]

One of the questions I get asked most is, "How do you know when to stop painting?" 

After painting over 2,000 oil paintings in the past 13 years, I have developed an innate sense of when a painting is complete. Over and over in my painting career, I have experienced that a painting reaches a "peak" of excellence, and the more I fuss with the painting after that moment, the worse the painting gets. I talk to artists all the time who complain about their paintings getting muddy and overworked. So, I know I am not the only one who has experienced this. 

I can't tell you how many times I have picked up the brush again after I had already decided the painting was complete, just to place just one more brush stroke... only to regret it afterward as a mistake.

So, how do I know when a painting is complete? I paint until the work has attained the emotional response I was aiming for, and then I stop. I use enough technical expertise adequate to produce an emotional impact from the painting. 

Continuing on the painting past this point, past the point of achieving the communication I set out to create, will only degrade the communication and make it foggy. I want my paintings to be clean, crisp, and joyous -- like I just picked up a brush and painted the whole thing without a pause.

When I reach this point in my paintings, I sign my initials at the bottom, and I have a firm policy to never touch the painting again after the initials are placed. This self-control takes trust in myself, gained from years of experience, as well as a healthy dose of cheerful insouciance.

Would you like to see the results of this policy? View my portfolio.