I love doing piddley, intricate detail work.
I can spend untold amounts of time getting each stamen of a flower painted just so and even more time adding the finest highlights and touches of color to bring my piece to the level of realism I want.
If this describes you, it’s time to break out of your rut and loosen up your paintings, your mind and your body.
Make A Mental Change
First, you need to decide that it’s okay to set aside that realistic detail work. It’s a mindset that keeps one locked into tight, complex paintings that are rendered to the nth degree.
Sure, there are times that details are important, but if you merely suggest detail and focus more on shape, movement and flow a composition, you’re far more likely to produce a painterly piece that draws interest from what it lacks instead of how much it includes.
Draw A Suggestion Of Your Composition
Don’t get bogged down in creating a completed drawing for your composition. Use loose strokes to indicate mass and form, but don’t include more than the bare essentials in your arrangement.
Using a piece of charcoal or even using your brush and a thin wash of paint is the most spontaneous way to develop your composition on a canvas. If you’re a watercolorist, a soft pencil held loosely to make rough compositional designations is all you need.
Get Up And Move
The next thing you need to do is to get off your derrière and stand up while you’re painting. Sitting at a table or inclined drawing board, you’re most likely hunched over, using your fingers and wrist to paint.
When you stand at an easel, you involve your whole body in the painting process. You move your legs and reposition your body in front of the canvas. You move in and move out of range as you lay down strokes of color. You’re using your entire arm from shoulder to fingertips as you apply the paint.
If you like to listen to music as you paint, your body will move and sway to the rhythm. Different styles of music can alter your approach to a painting.
Don’t Expect Instant Success
If you’re a life-long piddler, this break from detail takes some getting used to. You’re using a new method to convey your message, so at first you may not be jumping up and down with joy at your initial results.
It’s sort of like using a new language. You know how to speak, but now you’re communicating in a different language. You need to develop your new, loose skills just like you did when you first started painting.
Be patient and keep plugging away at your new, improved painting style. You’ll develop you own, unique method and express your message in an interesting and energetic manner that will keep your viewers interested.
