2. Super Impasto

One of the biggest obstacles to creating a great surface is a reluctance to use generous amounts of paint. This month’s challenge should shock you out of any restricting habits. I am suggesting that you use frightening amounts of paint, more than you have ever used before.

I often ask my students to test the limits of their taste in painting. How much strong colour before your stomach turns? Can you make some really ugly brushstrokes and leave them in? That push to excess extends to paint quantity. What may look like frightening mounds of paint to you or I would be mere stains to someone like George Rowlett, the Scottish impasto artist.

There are certain obstacles to this approach, not least of which is the cost of oil