Up: [[Expressive Art]] Created: 2022-12-20 1. Consciously decide on reckless abandon. Set it as an intention. 2. Wear loose clothes. Put down drop cloths 3. Get everything ready before starting. 4. Stand up to paint. It forces you to paint at arm’s length. 5. Use a large brush, two inches or larger, so you can’t get lost in details. 6. Put a lot of paint on the palette and on your brush. 7. Hold the brush at the end. You can also tape the brush to a length of dowel so it’s really long. 8. Ignore details until the very end. Don’t even think about them. 9. Use few colours, few values, few shapes. This means fewer decisions 10. Work with large shapes, 5-7 of them. 11. Love the process. Forget about trying for a masterpiece. Forget even about results. 12. Know [[design fundamentals]] so you don’t have to think about them. The big five: shape, value, colour, edges, centre of interest 13. Use colour to create a mood or feeling. 14. Be spontaneous, use intuition. Maybe play music 15. Paint fast. Don’t slow down to analyze until the end. 16. Give yourself a time limit so you have to work fast. 17. Experiment with different tools, different colours. 18. Ask “What if … I change this, do that?” Just act and move forward. Asking the question helps you stay conscious so you don’t fall into habit. 19. Switch off tech, try to have no disturbances so you can get into flow. 20. Use a lot of water. Thick paint makes it harder to paint freely. 21. Work in short bursts. Prevents focusing on details. 22. Do several paintings at once. Prevents focusing on details. 23. Stop before finishing. That can lead to new ideas about what finished means. 24. Use your non-dominant hand. 25. Do blind contour drawings. 26. Scribble 27. If tightening up, paint over with loose marks 28. Step back and squint to see colour and tone more clearly. 29. Try making marks on top of each other so that each new one is different from the one before. 30. Use your fingers > [!User] compiled from [david kessler](https://www.davidmkessler.com/blog/14579/loosen-up-your-painting-style-20-sure-fire-ways) and [tara leaver](https://taraleaver.com/2014/09/loosen-up-your-art/)