The Art of a Brushstroke
Detail: Prayers for Ukraine, oil 8 x 10.
A brushstroke is a splotch of paint, but it also shows the personality and thought process of the artist. Have you ever wished you could follow along with an artist in their studio? Investigate the brushstrokes of a master painting and it is like seeing the footsteps and movements of a dancer . . . each movement created for a specific reason. Thick and thin, energetic and calm, all of these strokes can establish not only the foundation of a painting but set the mood as well.
Detail: The Japanese Vase, oil 8 x 10.
8 tips for better brushstrokes:
1. Use more paint. Load the brush to allow the juicy paint to show–especially in the focal area. Often when first learning to paint artists are too miserly with the amount of paint that they mix and place on the brush.
Pansies, 6 x 6, oil on panel.
2. Create contrast with thin paint. Use thin paint in the background or in other areas to create polarity and interest by juxtaposing thick and thin passages. Drippy paint thinned with Gamsol can create some interesting effects.
3. Start with a big brush. Lay the foundation by starting with the largest brush. This will help to nail down the big picture (foundation) and delay the details. Starting a painting is like building a home. The foundation must happen first before picking out the details or the house will not be built with integrity. Start painting the large shapes with large brushes and then use smaller brushes to add more nuances. (Try this painting exercise: force yourself to use the biggest brush you can to start with.)
4. Use a variety of brushes. Learn and experiment with different types of bristles and shapes: synthetics, natural fibers, stiff ones (hog hair), soft ones (sable), flats, filberts, new brushes, and even old battered brushes. Experiment with them all and get to know what you can do with them. An old, splayed out brush can make some interesting marks!
5. Use different directions. Don’t apply all the brushstrokes in one direction . . .altering the direction will add interest. For example: vertical, horizontal, following with the form or not.
6. Use the sides and tops of your brush. Using the top edge or the side of a brush can give the stroke a different look when using the same brush. For example, flat brushes can give you thin lines if you use the top edge to apply paint. Filbert brushes have the advantage of being both a flat and a round brush depending on how you angle the brush.
7. Make each stroke count. Look twice and put once. Think about what you are trying to convey with the paint before you put it down. Master painters of the past have often been described as holding their brushes above the canvas and pausing before placing the stroke.
8. Put it and leave it. Don’t kill the paint but allow it to sing! A bad stroke applied with confidence will look better than noodling or licking the canvas (going over the same area and messing with it.) Either leave the stroke or scrape it off with a knife and then reapply.
Try this for a practice Idea: Create a small painting as you normally would. Then paint it again on another canvas (same size) but this time think about density, opacity, shape, size, energy, three-dimensionality, visual direction (with the form or not), and varying the force used to apply the paint. Create polarity between the focal area and the background by adding more interest in the focal point with thicker paint application and make the background thinner and more subtle.