Loose Painting Process

This is a private look at artist Eric Jacobsen’s painting process.

First, Eric starts with the scene he wants to paint:

Then, he begins the painting by using a turpy wash and arranging the placement of the big shapes:

After that, Eric adds more color. Having a quick glance at the scene gives him the color information he needs. He then lays in the general color he is looking at.

He then refines some of the shapes and tweaks his color a bit to mimic the scene. His goal is to be accurate but not precise. He squints at his subject so he does not get bogged down with detail:

Once he has built the big shapes, he begins to lay in the spindly trees. Then, he hints at a bit more detail and calls it finished!

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This step- by - step came directly from Eric Jacobsen. If you would like to learn more in depth on how to create loose paintings, join Eric below!