This fall, I’ve been plein air painting in my community garden, focusing on one key goal: speed. While it normally takes me 8 hours or more to complete a painting outdoors, I've been challenging myself to finish these works in under five hours—and sometimes even as quickly as 30 minutes!
I don’t often hear artists talk about the ambition to paint quickly, but it’s become a central goal for me. If given a full work week, I’d much rather create ten paintings than just one. Speed not only allows me to produce more work, but it adds an element of fun and spontaneity to the process that ends up in the final artwork. I find that painting swiftly helps sharpen my skills and keeps me fully engaged in each piece. However, getting faster isn’t easy — it requires a new skill set, which I’m continuing to work on.
One of the greatest benefits of painting quickly is the freedom it provides to take risks and experiment. Working at this pace makes it easier to embrace unusual techniques and bold decisions, all while capturing the fleeting light and atmosphere of the moment.
Below are some of my recent plein air paintings where I’ve focused on speed.
With Fall Flowers, my challenge was to paint standing up at my easel, versus sitting down. Standing sharpened my focus on what was important and kept my brushwork loose and active. Plus it informed my technical skills of how to paint with all my supplies being contained in my easel.
Dahlia that I painted in Fall Flowers
I made Nasturtiums in Bloom in about 4 - 5 hours on a beautiful September day. I started this painting with an under layer of bright fuchsia which you can see poking out in the finished artwork.
Painting in process, showing the fuchsia underlayer
The nasturtiums I was painting
I painted Garden Beds relatively quickly for me, in about 4 - 5 hours.
View I painted of the garden beds
As a speed painting exercise, I decided to make a series of paintings in 30 minutes. For these paintings, I set a timer and went as fast as possible. Two of my 30 minute paintings are below.
Gnome I painted
The stacked strawberry pots I painted
Painting quickly is more than just a practical skill — it’s a way to stay connected to the environment and capture the energy of the moment as it unfolds. While I’m still working toward the speed and efficiency I hope to achieve, I’m enjoying the process of painting with greater decisiveness, infusing each piece with as much life as possible.
