One Brushstroke Painting

After viewing a video on Toby's Artmaster blog, I had an epiphany. As I watched Toby paint, I noticed his speed came down to his only making a single brushstroke for most of his painting. He wasn’t dabbing, correcting, recoating or doing anything twice.

Unlike me.

I realized that I have been thinning my paints down too much which means that I often have to repaint the same spot two, three or even four times. Also, instead of being bold with my brush, I have been picking and poking at the miniature with jabbing motions. Not unlike a Sumi-e artist, I have to have the paint the proper consistency, and get my brushstroke to be perfect the first time.

Adopting these ideas has really sped up my painting! In addition, my skill and confidence have improved.