Arizona Canyon 11×14 oil
As I was getting together material for a workshop that I was teaching, I realized that some of my students needed help in brushwork. I feel that brushwork is an exciting component of oil painting and helps define each artists work.
Something I have done in the past is to take a clean white canvas and just make brushstrokes. I didn’t have any preconceived scene or objects in mind. The idea was to loosen up and see what I could do with my brush. Use paint, lots of paint and a little paint, thick paint and thin paint, small brushes and large brushes. You get the idea, diversify.
I tried to create distance by just using brush strokes. Thin paint with very little visible “strokes”, flat horizontal strokes, vertical strokes with a wider brush and thicker paint. Try it in this order and you will see distance in the strokes themselves. This will get you on the right path to experimenting with your brushwork.
Then use brush strokes to define the shape of objects, round and square. Now try the contour of a mountain, tree, horizontal field, etc. Then think about edges. Where do you want the eye to go? Do you want it to stop with a hard edge or flow into the next shape, stroke or color?
You can create form and movement in your brush strokes with very little color or value changes. Give it a try.