Thanks you all for your replies, I can see I need to get a few things on the go, l am sure it will stop the frustration creeping in. Perhaps do some stuff in my sketchbook I find my sketchbook very relaxing there never seams to be any pressure to get it just so. Do you all use sketchbooks?

Don't know what happened there Jeff! But to continue, I work in Acrylics, Oils and Watercolours and another reason for me working on several pieces at the same time is that when using oils, leaving them for a few days allows the Oil paint to dry a little giving me a slightly tacky surface to work on, which is something I like. As Robert says getting away from a painting for a while allows you to return to it with a fresh eye.

I always work on two and sometimes three paintings at the same time Jeff. I find after working on one painting for to long it becomes less enjoyable and tends to lack the spontaneity that I like to see in my work. Also things that I do on one painting can sometimes solve problems on another painting that I am working on. I use Acrylics, Oils and

I have always worked with a few paintings on the go Jeff. This is to stop me going stale and making mistakes if I were to concentrate on just one. Like Robert says, if you can leave it for a few days, you will have a fresh eye and renewed enthusiasm for it. Incidentally, recently I decided I had too many projects on the go at the same time and decided to concentrate on just one - big mistake. I am fed up with it, so I will be putting it to one side for a short time and trying other things.

I used to have several projects on the go at once, but I've slowed down a lot in recent years - the trouble with just having one project at a time is as you've discovered: you can worry away at it and not know if it's finished. Some of us worry too much..... Perhaps it's a good idea, although of course this will vary: sometimes things DO go right, to put a work to one side, get on with something else, and come back to it with a fresh eye a little later.