You Can Practice Your Way to a Looser Painting Style (and it's not hard)
I was looking through old paintings recently and I noticed that even when I was painting with the goal of control, perfection and realism, a little bit of intuitive looseness would pop up from time to time.
"Dahliance" circa 2000
I remember painting this dahlia and becoming thoroughly entranced with the process of adding that deep indigo edging around the flower, watching it bleed out into the soft, wet-in-wet background. It was addictively fun, and yet it never occurred to me that if my favourite part of the process involved flow, maybe I should be prioritizing that in my paintings.
I learned to invite those little hints of flow into my floral paintings.
Grandma's Garden, 2005
But it was still years before I figured out that I could let myself be free to prioritize the parts of the process that felt the most enjoyable and instinctive, and build my body of work on that kind of joyful self-expression.
Wildflower Riot, 2025
If you are in a beginning stage, or if you're a control-obsessed intermediate artist who's yearning for a looser style, ask yourself, "What parts of painting absorb my full attention and make me feel most satisfied?"
If you're seeing tendrils of colour flowing in a wash and feeling mesmerized by movement, are you creating opportunities for that to happen in all your paintings?
And what's drawing you to the art you're loving right now? How you see other artists' work might be a clue to the direction you are meant to be taking in your own style journey. If you thrill to the splash of spatter on your page, if you resonate with a strong, bold, emphatic brush stroke, if you get a guilty pleasure in seeing pencil lines peeking out from under delicate washes, how can you invite that element into your own work?
We know how to grow skill in technique.
Generally we accept that in order to work with brush control, master colour theory & value, understand perspective, shape & form, we need to practice those skills.
But have you thought about the idea that you should also practice for looseness?
Painting looser is a skill, just like any other technique, but we don't always think about it that way. Somehow we think that loosening up, editing out detail, abstracting our subject, should just emerge naturally, and then we get frustrated when our paintings fall into the same patterns of rigidity, control and overworking, when we were hoping for something fresher.
Start drilling for a looser style right now:
Set an intention to practice loose painting. Set aside paper devoted to creating without obligation. Make messes and experiment.
It's going to feel chaotic, incomplete and aimless, but when you are watching the paint move and letting yourself engage instinctively with the painting, you are developing your intuitive painting strategy and it cannot help but impact your art and style.
A drill for you:
Here's a quick warm up that will help you exercise some freedom in your colour interactions: COLOUR PLAY VIDEO LINK
It is the hundreds of open-ended painting explorations, experiments, unfinished or overworked messes that have taught me how to follow the thread of my own imagination and instincts, and to make work that resonates with who I am deep inside.
As you learn how to sense and follow those sparks of inspiration, your ability to trust and follow your intuition will seep into your painting practice, even in your representational paintings, and make your art a reflection of you.
Sweetwater Summer, 2025
Even my more representational landscapes (above) can't help but flow with the connectedness and love of colour that excites me in my warm ups.
Let the easy, joyful, all-absorbing aspects of painting feel free to lead your art. You're allowed to play and have fun with this and that spirit helps free other artists to follow their own joyful imaginings too!
What’s an exercise you recommend for developing (drilling) more intuitive painting? Leave a comment below!