Paint a landscape or still life.

“When I’m ready to paint, I ask myself how I can get the essence of the scene down as quickly as possible. This can often mean painting in the larger areas of light and/or shadow. [...] I do everything I can while painting to focus on holding onto the simple statement of the scene as a whole – and not get distracted by countless small details. Maintaining the overall composition and value statement can be quite a challenge, especially if the light changes, but it ensures that the finished painting holds together as intended. I also try to keep my brushwork loose and let some things ‘just happen’ – it’s part of the fun of painting, in my opinion! There’s nothing more magical than putting in a few swipes and seeing a familiar boot or household object appear recognizably before my eyes!”

“This is actually one of the first still life's I have set up on my own, I do not do much art from life, and I really need to have more practice with that! This turned out to be a good exercise for me. All I did was set up my still life, quickly draw the basic shapes that I saw on a small canvas, and then began painting with oils! I blocked in basic shapes with broken color- meaning I didn't just use paint on one flat color, I mixed my colors on the canvas. The key to creating shadows is adding hints of the complimentary color to the main color (orange's compliment is blue). I layered on a lot of paint and this created actual texture on the canvas.”