15 Minute wonder

Well i thought I'd show you a little of what I've been up to on the Bird Forum . The forum is a great place for anyone nuts about birds as i am! and the wildlife art sub forum mentored by the illustrious Tim Wooton Its a place where like minded individuals post our artwork for comment and encouragement. the forum is also great for Artists as we generally lead a solitary working life. Anyway i digress! Colleen one of our group came up with a fantastic exercise to loosen the way we paint. It makes you become more instinctive about your brushwork., well that's what i found anyway! However i will let her explain so here it is the method we use, straight from Colleen.
It should be more than a sketch, because we all have our threads for sketches, notice it says Paintings in the title.....so that infers color or at least light and shade and mass, like charcoal.....

so I suggest it be all as direct as you can make it, no pre sketching for forms or outlines, except for the briefest marks for placement. The idea is to let your tool, be it brush, marker, or pastel, make the forms...... you are trying to get the essence of the thing without worrying over details. We all do this in our drawings, now take it to the next level in your favorite media. So you can see the brushstrokes and energy of the making....that is, in a way, the subject. The time pressure is the main force to drive you beyond being able to think it over, into the Yoda land of the Force, Don't think just Do.

well I had a go and found it very hard to stop at the fifteen minute mark but it was hugely freeing of over working areas. I am glad I work in acrylics as they dry very quick and this allowed a great deal of coverage and I wasn't unduly hampered by waiting for things to dry.Its been very rewarding. Because they are experimental and not finished pieces The pressure is really off other than the time constraint Its renewed my enthusiasm for field work again and is something that I will continue with.