immediacy

From my first painting class, I have struggled with including too much detail.  I am incredibly detail-oriented person in every other aspect of my life; why should painting be any different?  So if there are 17 petals on a flower, I want to paint each one.  Of course, that's not how your eye actually sees a flower - you have to stare and count to discern each of those petals.  Impressionists understood this principle.  While I don't aspire to be a great painter, I want my work to represent what I feel in the moment rather than an exact replica of each detail.

Immediacy.  That one word sums up my painting goals. What do you take in in a single moment?  What is the least mark you can make to say "flower"?  One of my art teachers led a series of lessons that helped me toward that end.  We were given 20-15-10-5 minutes to paint a still life.  Don't labor over it.  Don't overthink.  Just put down on the canvas what you can see in the moment.  This is one of my favorites of that exercise.