A Lesson in Restraint...Breaking Old Habits

After completing the piece, "Helping Out a Friend," I tallied up how many hours I had spent on painting, not including the set-up & initial prep.  I believe it was somewhere around the 23+ hour mark.  Now, for a 4"x6" painting that is an awfully long time I thought to myself.

I know that I tend to spend too much time on things, tweaking small bits here & there, rather than just going with my first instinct.  I needed to find a way to trust my true instincts and not over-think every brush stroke that I laid down.  Giving myself a strict time constraint was the first first lesson I decided to try.

Each of the following pieces were done with the time constraint of 1 hour total.  This hour time limit didn't include the initial set-up, but rather the actual work done on the piece itself.  All of these pieces were inspired by this new world that I was seeing take form in my mind.  They are rough, but I still feel they are "complete" in their own right.   

 

Mixed Media & Acrylic on Illustration Board, 2009, 6"x4"

Acrylic on Illustration Board, 2009, 5"x10"

Acrylic on Illustration Board, 2009, 6"x4"

Acrylic on Illustration Board, 2009, 4"x6"

Acrylic on Illustration Board, 2009, 4"x3" 

 

Note: Unfinished, Acrylic on Illustration Board, 2009, 4 1/2"x9"

Acrylic & Ink on Illustration Board, 2009, 10"x2 1/2"

Acrylic on Illustration Board, 2009,  3"x9"