Sometimes a painting isn't really finished
Swiftcurrent Lake sunset
Months ago I deemed this painting of post-sunset Swiftcurrent Lake (Glacier National Park, Montana) finished. I put it on my website, announced it on my Facebook page, and felt satisfied. It's a fairly large painting for me at 24"x30" and takes up a good amount of space in my small studio. So, I couldn't avoid looking at in passing whenever I was in my studio. I even turned it around so it faced a wall to reduce visual clutter while working on other pieces. But, a couple of weeks ago, it started to nag at me. Something wasn't quite good enough about it. The scene seemed dark and flat (which is how landscapes look when the sun dips behind landforms). It yearned for more light and depth. It's hard when you feel like you've put a lot of time and energy into a painting and consider it to be done, to then possibly "ruin" it with application of more paint.
I took a deep breath and went with my instincts. With new paint and old brushes in hand, I went at it anew to turn the clock back about an hour or so and lit up the nearest banks of the lake. After several days, I felt better about it and here it is....
I'm going to let it sit for awhile before I deem it finished (again) and upload it to my website.