On Finishing
From the article on a new Lucian Freud (grandson of Sigmund Freud) biography: "...when a painting was nearing completion, Freud would step back from the canvas and “as though taunting himself” would murmur “How far can you go?” ..." https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/the-lives-of-lucien-freud-william-feaver-review Finishing is sometimes even harder than starting, because after a work begins, the stress associated with the starting part has passed, and becomes a different kind of doubt and uncertainty. And once you become successful, both the starting and finishing feel much different going forward. In some ways it's not unlike the feeling of boredom: time feels different--the days can go by slowly, but the weeks, months, and years fly by. Or the work starts quickly with a zeitgeist but can become a slog when it seems to not want to get finished or requires many compromises to become finished. A way to end the finishing phenomenon is to never finish something, t...
