This season of plein air painting has impressed upon me the importance of finishing a painting strong. In this context, the stepping away sometimes means packing up and heading home to finish my painting in my comfortable studio.

Don't get me wrong - I love painting outdoors - but it can be exhausting too. The summer heat, changing light, and wind keep me on my toes, and by the end of my painting, I need a bit of a break. 

So when I get a watercolor painting to where I can say "almost done," I step aside for a bit. And then, when I'm rested and ready - I focus on the elements covered in this blog.

Watch the video to see how I take a painting from nearly complete to finished and polished!

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Before and After: A Watercolor that is 90% Finished vs. 100% Finished

You might be wondering what I would classify as "nearly done" and when I reach "finished and polished." This is not an easy assessment, as it turns out.

A common struggle that watercolor artists have is knowing when they've added enough detail without overworking their painting. If you're familiar with my three-step watercolor painting process, you know that I paint my lightest values first, then my middle-value connected shape, and then my darks and details. Most typically, I stand back from my painting after this process. 

When I revisit the painting after taking a bit of a breather, I am looking to:

• Emphasize the focal point,
• Add highlights and texture,
• Break up boring areas, and
• Reinforce the foreground, middle ground, and background hierarchy.

Demo - Watch Me Finish This Painting

Today's video is a demonstration of how I took this painting from the first picture to the second picture, giving it more clarity, depth, and texture. Check it out to see exactly how I went about refining this painting. 

Related Blogs:

Questions to Ask Before you Complete a Watercolor

3 Watercolor Rules to Help You Focus on your Main Idea

This is Why Your Watercolor Didn't Turn Out