The original "Conversation of Lines" happened in ancient Greece. The contemporary Conversation of Lines is happening here!

I am currently working on the following painting:

As you can probably tell, I've been at it for a while, and I've gotten pretty far with it. In fact, I'm at a point where I am not sure how much more I can improve the painting versus simply change it.

This is a tough moment for a painter - or it is for me, anyway. It comes down to whether or not you've said everything you want to say about the subject as an artist. Hmmm... How do you know?

For starters, I try to look at the painting to see if there are any obvious mistakes:

* is there an object that is not sitting in space properly?

* is there a contour line that is noticeably off?

* have I botched the colour anywhere?

When I don't find any candidates for an immediate remedy, I move on to more emotional qualities:

* are the colours pleasing?

* is the painting as a whole too dark or too light?

* does the composition have the impact I was hoping for?

* does the brushwork look pleasing and not (for example) overly choppy or monotonous?

If none of these questions bear fruit, then I think it's reasonable to move on to the next artwork. Artists (or, more specifically, "I") can question themselves forever, driving themselves bonkers in the quest to paint the 'perfect' image (whatever that means to them) - but ultimately, it's more productive and mentally healthy to get to a degree of satisfaction and quietly kiss your artwork on the forehead and send it off into the world.