An honest finish lets the material keep some of its own character.

Finishes either reveal what a thing is or disguise it. Grain left visible, a joint you can see, a surface that shows where the wood came from: all of that admits the material had a life before it became this object. The alternative is a coating that makes everything look like the same anonymous substance.

The same choice appears in how you present work and yourself. Leave the seams visible where they are honest: the constraint you worked under, the part you are still unsure about, the help you had. It reads as confidence rather than roughness, because only a good thing can afford to be seen clearly.