Brazen Brushwork and Paint Parsimony

10 Brushstroke Pear Exercise--6x6 oil (collection of the artist)

One of my 2013 goals to enhance my painterly brushwork. Another is not to be such a paint miser. If you have this tendency you know how hard it is to squeeze out several inches (gulp) of fresh paint all the time. And I'm surrounded by a dozens of paint tubes so there's really no excuse.

10 Brushstroke Bluebird Figurine 6x6 oil on panel (collection artist)

The further irony is that I’ve always personally preferred oil paintings with bold expressive brushwork and “chunky” generous paint.  The good news is that there’s a very helpful exercise to that will help you with both brazen brush work and paint parsimony. It’s what’s typically called the “limited stroke” or “limited brushwork” exercise.

I painted three 6x6 inch panels with simple subjects (these aren’t the Grand Canyon but they could be) and a 10 stroke limit or par for any of you golfers out there. After just three small paintings I was already thinking about my brushwork in a very different way. What else did I learn?

1. Remember Jaws?  Well, for this, we’re gonna need a bigger brush! And more paint. Bigger Brush. More Paint. Just keep saying it…
2. Use the canvas (in this case I toned with a warm quin gold acrylic wash) to your advantage. Consider what canvas shapes might stay “unpainted” and work as part of your overall composition. (Master paintings like Richard Schmid, CW Mundy, etc. will often use the "raw" canvas in their overall design.\)
3. Find the 10 most important shapes and paint those. What details can you leave out?
4. Paint rather than draw (or outline) your shapes. Feel the form with your brush.
5. Vary your brushwork—push, pull, twist, stab, etc. to get the most out of your brush.

For more info practicing your brushwork check out this previous DPW “limited stroke” challenge.  Popular teacher Peggi Kroll Roberts also offers a DVD demonstrating limited brushwork and I hear  this is a student favorite exercise in her workshops.  In my next post we'll chat about the power of color dominance as well as the Woodson Art Musuem  Birds in Art touring show which came to town.

New Colors are Like a Box of Chocolates

"My Sunny Valentine" 8x8 oil on archival Ampersand baord

Please click here to bid--SOLD-Thank you!

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone and a special birthday shout out to anyone with a Val Day birthday like my Dad!

Ever since I’ve returned from the beach I’ve needed a “mid-winter” color pick me up.  So I treated myself to some fresh oil paints—which is almost as exciting as a box of dark chocolate.  Almost.
After shopping around online for a bit (budget: $100) and finding a “discount shipping” code I chose an special promo Daniel Smith Quinacridone oil paint set. The 11 juicy colors span the warmer side of the color wheel from the deep yellow orange Quin Gold (a rather hard to find pigment) to a new violet Quin Purple.

I like “quins” because they’re powerful, non-toxic, and highly transparent which means they mix cleanly and glaze well.  Quin Gold, Quin Rose, and Quin Magenta are some of my pet pigments for floral painting.  And I love using Quin Gold to mix interesting greens. (I tried the Quin Red in today’s sunflower painting.)

In my next post I’ll show you my results of a very challenging “limited brushstroke” painting exercise…Stay tuned.