When creating a piece of art, be it a song, a poem, or David’s extraordinarily chiselled abs, knowing how to ply the techniques of your craft is of vital importance. Equally important, however, is knowing when to stop. It’s amazing how many creative types master the first skill and utterly neglect the second.

If you watch any painting competition on TV, you can’t fail to spot the ‘fiddlers’ – those artists who, three-quarters of the way into the painting challenge, have created something truly magnificent, but who, because there’s still time left on the clock, can’t resist the urge to jiggle things about a bit. A touch more paint here, another splodge there, perhaps a more muted wash, oh and I could add a boat in the background – and as more and more layers of paint are laid down, the once great picture turns into an overworked, unemotional, lifeless piece of rubbish you wouldn’t even hang in a hotel toilet. Read the rest of this entry »