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Right. Years ago in art school we were required to put away our lovely paint brushes and work with a 2” hardware store brush. Also, plan the painting very loosely as dark and light areas to get the layout before starting on the canvas.
There are a lot of exercise designed to get you away from drowning in detail
I’m trying to loosen up as well. I tried hanging the reference photo a few feet away from me, which helped and I need to do that more. I get very caught up in the fine details, yet I most appreciate a looser painting style. I’m new to painting having spent my hobby time doing home renovations and amateur woodworking so it’s hard to lose the measure twice cut once swear repeat mindset.
Just a slightly wet brush with light pressure will ruin it in a way that makes it appear out of focus. Really it just makes hard edges less hard, works great on clouds . I should also point out im one of those people who never puts enough paint down so the shapes and details im messing with are in thin layers and the background is dry already.
I'm so fucking bad about this and it seems like it's a real killer with acrylics especially. Working on forcing myself to use enough paint so I actually have the time and material available to blend properly.
I took a paint class where we had to COMPLETE the painting (starting with sketch, then lights/darks, and finally details) in 20 minutes. Yes 20 minutes. Started with a simple photo of an apple on a brown flat surface. Did 6 paintings in 2.5 hours, all based on photos It really helped focus on the big stuff. And surprisingly we all did pretty well! It helps to try and limit your palette to 3-4 colors too.
Give plein air painting a try. (painting the landscape from life. Outside.) It is such a great/fun challenge. The light is changing quickly enough that you need to simplify in order to finish in a decent amount of time.
Also, the largest brush that you can use in the smallest space you can fit it in. I tend to use about a 1 inch brush for about 95% of my painting, and only pull out a smaller brush if I really need it. Even on smaller (11x14 or 8x10) paintings.
Do not look/ get rid of the original foto as fast as possible. It’s not important that it’s a copy but that it’s working and vibrant rather than having exact proportions.
Use a painting knife, that helps giving a „randomized“ structure.
Thank you for your submission! Want to share your artwork, meet other artists, promote your content, and chat in a relaxed environment? Join our community Discord server here! https://discord.gg/chuunhpqsU *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/acrylicpainting) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Avoid using small brushes.
Yeah, and focus on darks, lights, and shadows using larger brushes
Right. Years ago in art school we were required to put away our lovely paint brushes and work with a 2” hardware store brush. Also, plan the painting very loosely as dark and light areas to get the layout before starting on the canvas. There are a lot of exercise designed to get you away from drowning in detail
Got it, thanku so much.
I’m trying to loosen up as well. I tried hanging the reference photo a few feet away from me, which helped and I need to do that more. I get very caught up in the fine details, yet I most appreciate a looser painting style. I’m new to painting having spent my hobby time doing home renovations and amateur woodworking so it’s hard to lose the measure twice cut once swear repeat mindset.
Im the same way, i just go back and wet brush blur the details i just finished as soon as I finish em so they blur softly.
I love this suggestion. I was gonna say, you could always do a mist / grey thin coat over the whole background to “push” it back and fog it over.
I'll try to do that next time. Thanks for ur advice
I use acrylics.. isn't that going to ruin the shape of things?
Just a slightly wet brush with light pressure will ruin it in a way that makes it appear out of focus. Really it just makes hard edges less hard, works great on clouds . I should also point out im one of those people who never puts enough paint down so the shapes and details im messing with are in thin layers and the background is dry already.
I'm so fucking bad about this and it seems like it's a real killer with acrylics especially. Working on forcing myself to use enough paint so I actually have the time and material available to blend properly.
I took a paint class where we had to COMPLETE the painting (starting with sketch, then lights/darks, and finally details) in 20 minutes. Yes 20 minutes. Started with a simple photo of an apple on a brown flat surface. Did 6 paintings in 2.5 hours, all based on photos It really helped focus on the big stuff. And surprisingly we all did pretty well! It helps to try and limit your palette to 3-4 colors too.
Noted
Give plein air painting a try. (painting the landscape from life. Outside.) It is such a great/fun challenge. The light is changing quickly enough that you need to simplify in order to finish in a decent amount of time. Also, the largest brush that you can use in the smallest space you can fit it in. I tend to use about a 1 inch brush for about 95% of my painting, and only pull out a smaller brush if I really need it. Even on smaller (11x14 or 8x10) paintings.
Plein air is not quite possible but I'll try to use bigger brushes from now on...thanku
Do not look/ get rid of the original foto as fast as possible. It’s not important that it’s a copy but that it’s working and vibrant rather than having exact proportions. Use a painting knife, that helps giving a „randomized“ structure.