Today, I gave myself 20 minutes to paint something,
and I am not happy with what I created.

I am pretty sure if you do a 20 minute speed painting session,
you are not going to be too happy either.

However,
how...everrr...

Speed painting is important especially,
when using a semi-transparent reference image over the entire canvas.

We are given access to each and every detail there is.
We are artistic royalty, gushing with perfection.

Sometimes, for the sake of study,
of comprehension of greatness...

We have to let the paint do the painting,
that is what impressionism is about.

Capturing in some kind of glorious desperation,
all the most important details, and then setting the brush down.

I’ve learned that ears are not too important,
that nose, does not need to be perfect.

That, lips do need extra work,
and of course eyes are the most important feature.

But I also learned that both Hyperrealism and
Impressionism are perfectly valid ways of creating a painting.

I still believe that portraits of real individuals,
need to be Hyper-realistic.

I just don’t want people to be surprised,
by the girth of brush strokes.

I want them to be surprised
with a perfected stylized likeness that no photo could ever capture.

But I am certain that if impressionism was denied to us,
if we lived in a Universe where it is looked down upon or illegal.

We wouldn’t be able to sleep at night,
we’d be hard at work breaking the rules and loving the works.

The first time I saw an impressionist paining,
I said to myself that I am looking at a color map.

At the first impression it was a paint-sketch,
carefully marking where all the colors, and shapes go.

But, that the world considered it a complete work,
simply meant to me...

That the step one to creating a paining,
is an art in it self.

Even though I am unhappy with today’s creation,
I know deep down, that for all its flaws, it is complete.

Can we allow ourselves to create a series of nine impressionist works,
and call it done?

Yes, but you won’t be able to appreciate it completely,
until you do it in a single sitting, in a single afternoon.

Carefully prepare nine photo references first,
perhaps from unsplash or reddit gets drawn, but you should take your own photos.

And it will probably take a bit over three hours,
as it is three paintings per hour, but there are always details we miss in haste.

It takes little to add them,
but they make an enormous difference.

And then, put them on a memory stick,
and run like the wind to get them printed out and immediately put them up on a wall in a coffee shop.

(You might want to ask for permission first,
but if nobody is looking...)

A nearby supermarket may offer 8x11 prints on standard paper,
for just about three bucks, and a dollar store could get you some nice frames for just about a dollar.

You will need to sign your works, to make it official,
just price the series at a $1,000 dollars, negotiable.

Take some photos for your portfolio, and get some rest,
as all that will make for a pretty colorful day.