What Is Intuitive Painting?
Intuitive painting is a way of making art by responding to the painting as it develops, rather than beginning with a predetermined outcome. It means allowing color, texture, marks, materials, and even accidents to influence what happens next.
Instead of deciding exactly what a painting will look like before I begin, I might start with a color, a shape, a loose idea, or simply a surface prepped with colorways.
Once I begin, I allow the paint to lead the way.
Intuition Isn't Random
One of the misconceptions about intuitive painting is that the artist is making random marks and hoping something interesting happens. There's more to it than that.
I've been painting for more than fifty years. Every painting I've made, technique I've learned, color I've mixed, mistake I've made, and artist I've studied has contributed to the way I approach a painting.
Years of experience enable me to recognize when something feels unbalanced. I might add a mark, change a color, scrape away a section, cover something up, or take the painting in another direction entirely.
Intuition and experience work together. That's one of the things I like about working this way.
A painting can begin with a background rather than a subject. I can establish colorways and movement across the canvas and then respond to what I've created.
Other times, I begin with an idea and discover that the painting has other plans.
The octopus painting I've been working on is a good example. I started this piece live at the Colombia Pacific Farmer’s Market. It was a blank white canvas. I had an idea that I wanted to paint something that popped—something that would grab market goers attention as they walked by my tent. Mostly, I wanted to have fun.
So, I chose orange and blue, a surefire complimentary combo. Opposite colors are high contrast that push each other forward. The warm orange offsets cool blue and mimics sunsets over the ocean. To be honest, I thought that is what the painting would be—a beautiful sunsent over the ocean and a sandy beach evoking the scenery I love.
Of course, the paint had another plan in mind. I let myself enjoy the act of putting paint on canvas, and the music influenced my strokes as I followed the muse.
The orange and blue made a beautiful outline as I pulled the brush across the canvas. In my mind, I saw an octopus, which is funny because I had never painted one. Color moved into and out of the body. The tentacles changed. Marks accumulated. Some areas became more defined while others became less defined. I responded to what was happening on the canvas rather than trying to create a plan.
Painting definitely added appeal to the booth and I enjoyed it way more than sitting there staring at people. Marketgoers stopped to watch and chat. These markets are a challenge for an introvert. I found it challenging to switch from painter’s brain to cashier, but it’s a good problem to have. With any luck, I’ll get plenty of practice.
What’s Next?
For my next live painting session on August 21, I'm bringing two very different starting points.
The first is a canvas I've already prepared with a graded blue background using Cerulean, Ultramarine, Phthalo Blue (green shade), and Payne's Gray.
Prepared canvas for August 21 Friday market.
It already suggests depth and water to me, but I haven't decided exactly what the finished painting will be. I'll have something to respond to as soon as I begin.
I'm also bringing a completely blank canvas.
Process Doesn't Replace Technique
Knowing how paint behaves, understanding color, composition, and materials matter. With a carefully planned painting, many decisions can happen before the brush reaches the canvas. With intuitive painting, more of those decisions happen while I'm working.
It's a conversation between what I know, what I see, what the materials are doing, and what I decide to do next. That uncertainty is part of what keeps painting interesting to me after more than fifty years. I still don't always know what's going to happen.
On August 21, I'll be painting live again. One canvas already gives me an underwater world to enter. The other gives me nothing at all.
I'm curious to see what happens.