Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Minimal brushstrokes painting style


An exercise I have found quite useful in developing a looser style of painting is to do a painting with the fewest strokes possible. This requires minimal working of paint on the surface leading to a freshness of color that can be easily destroyed in just a few more strokes.

In Reflections, I have used a rather common scene of trees reflected in the water to demonstrate a minimal brushstrokes approach. The palette is restricted (ultramarine blue, sap green, cadmium yellow and titanium white) and I used the biggest brush I could force myself to pick! After all, this is a small canvas and the temptation was to reach for a small brush. The bigger brush allowed for the canvas to be covered quickly and with the self-imposed limit on brushstrokes, there was no choice but to leave the paint alone after it was down on the canvas.

Reflections, Acrylic on canvas board, 5”X7” (Not for sale)

3 comments:

  1. It has a nice feel to it. A bigger canvas and a bigger brush works - I take a class on Tuesdays and our teacher is always trying to get us to work bigger to get looser.

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  2. Wow, a limited palette, a large brush, limited amount of brush strokes and a 5 x 7 board! Talk about a challenge! You met the challenge wonderfully. This reminds me of Monet's work. I envy you those brush strokes that appear in your painting - I miss that in watercolour. (Maybe I should get my acrylics back out, eh?) I love the blues of your sky and the sense of movement and light in the painting. Will you try this on a large canvas or board one day?

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  3. Atul, This is a wonderful exercise and you achieved great results. To me, that is what painting is all about, stretching yourself with unfamiliar technique and more difficult subject matter with each attempt. Bravo!

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