Once again, I apologize that comments disappeared for awhile just after you posted this comment.

I have seen lots of underworked painting, although of course it depends on what the artist’s goal is. It would generally be better if fewer painters worried about applying too many strokes to their paintings.

That’s a key insight. I think the whole concept of overworking is probably the single most damaging piece of bad advice given to young painters. It’s a recipe for both laziness and self-infatuated delusion. As you point out, Sargent himself wasn’t always able to pull off that kind of precision without scraping and repainting. What chance does a young painter have in bringing it off? None whatsoever. The art magazines are filled to the brim with clearly underworked and slapdash paintings all playing at the idea that they’re being fresh and masterful, when all they are is superficial and imitative of a certain kind of fashionable style.

The real problem is that most painting is underworked. A painting that is so-called “overworked” can always be resuscitated through scraping and/or sanding down. And pushing a painting past the point of one’s comfort zone is necessary, rather than trying to baby it and preserving things that one has done well. Real progress only comes from pushing the painting further—and learning from the struggle.

I applaud your honesty here on your website and have long enjoyed visiting it. I’m very happy to see the clear progress that you keep making in your work.

I do a agree that you need to watch out for overworking a painting, depending on the kind of effects you are looking for. Over-blending, for example, can dull down color (reduce chroma) lower than you want. My point here is that, for me, there is a greater danger of stopping too soon than stopping too late.

Your mileage will vary, of course.