These three paintings come from a university project back in 2004.  We were asked to create 4 painti

These three paintings come from a university project back in 2004.  We were asked to create 4 paintings of the same subject on 10"x10" canvas.  The first was to be realistic, with the rest of the canvases becoming increasingly abstract. I love gerber daisies so picking my subject wasn’t hard, and I immediately knew how I wanted my final piece to look which I thought put me ahead of the game (it did not).   The first painting took me roughly 5 hours to complete, it was smooth, realistic, and as close to the original image as I could possibly make it.  For my second piece I tried something different, I painted with a wide rubber brush.  That painting I finished in 2 hours and loved it!  I was thrilled with what I accomplished.  The third painting was much simpler, done in a ‘paint-by-numbers’ style.  The fourth….. I finished, but eventually painted over to reuse the canvas (broke art student).  It was a complete departure from the other three.  Long story short, I missed the mark in terms of what the project asked for. In the end though I think I learned an even better lesson and it was a turning point for me.  When you stand back and look at painting #1 vs. painting #2, they look almost identical, it isn’t until you get closer that you notice the difference in application.   Up until that point when I painted, it was always very meticulous, smooth and realistic.  Hence so many unfinished early works.  Stepping out of my comfort zone, and working with a new tool, forced me to be more relaxed.  I wasn’t able to control the paint as well and you get a much more 'impressionistic’ style with lots of texture.  This is a style and technique that I still enjoy exploring to this day. -- source link

More pics about