So again this week we were painting without brushes, this time with sponge brushes – actually pieces of foam stuck on a stick. We looked at the work of Howard Hodgkin for inspiration, as his broad brush strokes with multiple colours on them are exactly the effects that sponge brushes can do so easily. It’s particularly exciting when the colours mix on the sponge, and when you twist and twirl the brush.
This is another technique in which giving yourself less control – the brush is broad and stiff – makes you paint with more freedom – as long as you remember you cannot paint like you would with a paintbrush and to embrace the looseness that this technique requires. It rewards risk taking and experimenting as you can see!
