On a recent trip to Colorado, I painted at Lily Lake near Estes Park.
I’ve been trying to loosen up my watercolor landscapes; normally I make a tight pencil drawing on the paper before I start applying water and pigment. But I’m not liking the results. The image is too tight, much like a cartoon.
Watercolor landscape painter Jonathan Pitts advises starting out with a 5-minute sketch before launching into a longer painting. In 5 minutes there’s only so much you can do. You have to rely on simple shapes, colors, and brush strokes.
At Lily Lake, I couldn’t quite restrict myself to 5 minutes. I gave myself a 15 minute time limit for an initial sketch on a 3.5″ x 5″ piece of watercolor paper, set the timer, and painted.
Lily Lake
15 minute study
Watercolor
Next I worked for a couple of hours on a larger piece of paper. It was late afternoon, and the light and sky was changing every few minutes.
Lily Lake
2 hour study
Watercolor
I like the quick study much better. Making quick decisions forces me to work rapidly in bold patterns and simple color. Such “thin-slicing” is not my normal state of affairs; I usually mull things over until they are thoroughly mushed and muddy. I’m searching for clarity in many things. Funny that it should sometime come as a result of flash decisions.
Mockingbirds at midnight 
Love both your “tight” and “loose” styles. Each style has something different to offer.
Thank you. Somewhere there’s an in between that I’m searching for.
More paradox, huh, Maggie! Yet what can seem like a “flash” at one moment in time may feel like forever in another. . .
I, too, like both styles of painting but understand the search for the “in between.”
So true, Chris. Time doesn’t ever feel constant. It’s more rubbery and subject to hunger pains and the weather.