How to Stop Overworking Your Paintings: Try the 100-Stroke Challenge

Want to loosen up your landscapes and stop overworking them? Try this.

Recently I shared an exercise in an online workshop called Landscape Week, and it had a major impact on the artists who tried it.

It's called the 100-Stroke Challenge.

So many artists were genuinely surprised by how much they could say with so few marks. When every stroke counts, there's no room to fuss. Each mark gets placed with intention, and the painting gains a clear voice. 

This exercise teaches economy of strokes as you suggest the scene with limited colors and marks. Here's how it goes. Pick a landscape photo reference. Then choose a limited palette of just 10 to 12 pastels: with a few lights, a few middle values, and a few darks. On a small sheet of pastel paper, capture the scene in just 100 strokes. Count each stroke as you make it, and when you reach 100, you're done!

This isn't about making a finished painting. It's about learning to say more with less.

Here is my 7x7” 100-Stroke exercise from Landscape Week. About a dozen sticks and 100 strokes are more than enough to create energy and impact. You can do this too! 

Remember, this is about playfulness over perfection. Your study will likely be loose, a little messy and unfinished, and that's how it should be. Don't let your inner critic sneak back in to clean it up!

Give it a try this week. You might be surprised at how much 100 strokes can say.

Keep painting, 
Alain  

If this exercise stirs something in you and you'd like to go further with your marks, my mini-course Expressive Mark-Making is a four-lesson study built around one simple subject, the pear, so all your attention can go into the marks themselves. You can learn more here.

Discover the Power of Simplicity

What if I told you that the landscapes you admire most—the ones that make your heart skip—aren't painted with more detail, but with profound simplicity? 

There’s a secret that the masters knew: When you stop trying to paint everything, you start painting the true feeling of the moment. That's the power of simplicity.

I'm thrilled to share the newly remastered painting demonstration - "Blue Country View".

Blue Country View, 6x12” pastel on UART

This European farmhouse scene is a perfect context to explore how reducing complex landscapes to their fundamental light and shadow patterns can actually make them more compelling, not less.

You'll discover a painterly approach to landscape painting: starting with a bold blue underpainting to establish the cool shadow areas, then gradually introducing warm golden ochres and oranges to create that gorgeous complementary harmony. This video goes way beyond technique, it's about learning to see - how to squint past the details and capture the quality of light that makes late afternoon so magical.

Whether you're drawn to the methodical dark-to-light process, the atmospheric blending techniques, or simply want to experience the meditative joy of painting the European countryside alongside me, this remastered version offers enhanced audio alongside the same solid instruction. Perfect for both longtime subscribers revisiting a favorite lesson and newcomers discovering it fresh!

Here's the truth: The farmhouse will always be there, but that golden light raking across the field? That's fleeting.

Let's capture it together while your inspiration is burning bright.

If this peaceful countryside scene inspires you, save the date for Landscape Week on September 8, 2025! It's the perfect opportunity to dive deeper into painterly landscapes together.