How does an artist know when a painting is finished?

When the cabinets are empty.

I know when I’m starting to be finicky and tweaking things that don’t need tweaking any more. It’s usually just when I’m on the verge of ruining it; occasionally sometimes it’s just afterward.

I’m thinking they don’t.

Sometimes they don’t.

They ask their buddy.

Most are like writers – they always feel that something can be added, altered or improved.

I usually never end up finishing. I start something new halfway through the project.

When the cabinets are empty.

I don’t know why that was removed by moderators.

They may have thought it was a joke. It seemed genuine to me.

@dpworkin I guess it seemed impertinent to someone. It was definitely genuine.

@jfos me neither

When the horsehair bristles fall out of his brush, is a pretty good sign to stop.

This is a really good question.

I actually had to train myself to call it done. Otherwise I would spend more time trying to correct an old painting than it would take to create a new one.

There is a feeling I get that says “stop” .
Then I turn it to the wall for a day then turn it back around and hang it across the studio and look at it. If it passes this test it is done.

If I have a nagging feeling that something is just not right I usually seek the opinion of another professional artist/friend.

@jfos I will restore the comment if you expand on what you mean by it. :)

Paintings are never finished… They’re just framed when creativity stops flowing.

@Dog I find the post it and look at it for a few days technique works well for me too.

As per @Dog‘s request
My answer, “When the cabinets are empty,” could mean a few things.

The primary meaning is that when there is no food left, the artist (who I assume lives off of compensation for his/her paintings), has to stop perfecting the work and sell it.

A secondary meaning, which I thought of after submitting my answer, is a metaphor. The “cabinets” could be storing the artist’s motivation/ideas. When these cabinets are empty, the artist will know that his/her painting is done.

When what the artist is doing starts to hurt the work, not help.

@stump That’s what I was getting at in my first post, although it’s not always easy to tell.

The unfinished masterpiece, a popular conclusion.

@janbb I confess I didn’t read all the answers first. Your answer was good, and mine was redundant.

@stump It was worth being said twice. No prob.

@jfos Restored! And GA’d

So you can teach an old Dog new tricks!!

When the brush is worn down to a hunk o’ wood.

Kidding.
If you are the artist in question, only you will know that, it is your piece, go with what feels right and complete.

Never. You have to make yourself stop, and that’s part of being a “good” artist.

Someone asked the modernist artist Larry Poons this question in the long-ago sixties, and he replied:
“Madam, you ask how I know when my painting is finished. Tell me, how do you know when you’ve had an orgasm?”

I’ve heard them say they never feel like they are finished.

There really is a point where you have to stop, take the lessons you learned and apply them to the next painting.

I have a friend who is a professional artist. She decided to take all her old work and re-work it better to sell. Three months later she realized that correcting the problems took longer than painting new work fresh and ready. She still laments losing 3 months of painting time.

Older work is lessons learned.

well I’d personally say…when I can step back and say deeply honestly… “nice! well done!”

When I start “fixing” things that don’t need fixing, I know it’s finished, because then I just start ruining a perfectly good piece of art.

When they feel satisfied and have accomplished what they set out to do.

Oh my. It’s extremely difficult to finish with a painting. There’s always something to add, something that’s just not right anymore, sometimes starting all over.
I always feel like this great rush and then it’s like I’m too elated to paint anymore. I just drop everything and walk away. Looking back at some, I’d love to change them but I can’t because I stopped myself then and felt they were done-ish at that time so why bother. It’s a cycle. If I ever think too much into my own paintings I step away until I forget about them so it’s a fresh image to add to. Though I hate not “finishing” a painting in a few sessions (too much thought is awful).

When I get sick of it, really.

When I get the next great idea. Whether or not there is still empty canvas left. It’s a little tragic really.

Two types of art. One inspired, the other contolled. For the first, it is finished when the inspiration transmutates into satisfaction. For the second, it is finished when I feel the message has been effectively communicated in the manner I have chosen.

I never have a problem finishing my artwork. I put a great deal of prior thought into my creations. The methodology has been completely fulfilled in my head before I ever begin. I see it hanging framed in my mind before ever starting production. The workflow is entirely mapped out in advance.

If I get a new idea during production, then that idea may see reality in a future project, but I will not allow it to change the current one. The current one was already finished in my mind long ago.

In the (terrific) movie Pollock, an interviewer asked Jackson Pollock how he knew when he had finished a painting. Pollock answered: “How do you know when you’re finished making love?”

…. pre-dating Larry Poons by a generation….. (see above)

Thanks, @Jeruba.

@Jeruba Pollock answered: “How do you know when you’re finished making love?”

Many people would claim that the answer to that depends on whether you are a man or a woman. ;)

(And whether you are in a well established marriage or a new affair.)

@squidcake You beat me to it. When I suddenly get a new idea that I want to work with, I just stop.