Oil painting with limited time

I haven’t try painting in a limited time. Often I think myself is a slow painter. If I can bypass the “timely manner” practice I would.

Last year my parents were staying with us. With their help I could paint some pieces during the pandemic. After they went back to their home in November, things started to change. I have to take care of everyone in the house, including my cat, Naomi. So the only time that my toddler isn’t bothering me is when she has nap. Usually between 60 to 90 minutes. But I don’t always have the luck for a full 90 minutes quite time. With that being said, the only time I can sit down and paint without any distractions is less than 90 minutes per day. I have to make the most of that time. I have to finish whatever I can in that limited time window.

I started with small size canvas. I prepared the palette one day earlier to save some time during the actual painting. And I tried to finish an entire layer in an hour. Although this practice is not by my wish, but it turns out that I do need it. It forces me to jump out of tiny details and blending but focuses on color forms and overall shapes. I reduce the chances of over blending or redundant details. I leave my brush strokes as raw as possible.

This helps me a lot. This reluctant limited time painting practice leads me a more efficient work pace and brush strokes. What’s more important is it let me feel free on my canvas.

Here is my oil painting of hamburger on canvas board, 8″×10″.