BRUSHWORK EXERCISES, PART 6

STROKE COUNTING

This is an exercise in making every stroke count. The rules I gave myself were: Count every stroke. A stroke begins when I put the brush down, continues through any direction changes, and ends when I lift the brush. That old habit of repeatedly stroking in the same spot... won’t work for this. Some interesting things happened. I found myself slowing down, making long, thoughtful strokes. No automatic mark-making. Is that a good thing to continue in everyday painting? How much consciousness is useful in getting paint on the canvas? Even though every stroke involved prolonged decision making and slow execution, the painting was completed fairly quickly. Maybe a lot of the marks I usually make on a canvas are the equivalent of “ahem.”