My “Aha!” moment came the other day when I realized I hadn’t been using my flat brushes nearly as much lately. My big ole flats make such happily loose marks. My recent plein air work has done well in competition, but I knew I was beginning to tighten up. Somehow, my round brushes had taken control, and things were getting too dang precious. It felt time to loosen up again and treat myself—and my paintings—a little better.

I love my big ole brushes. It always puzzles me when I wander away from them and start relying too much on carefully painted shapes. There’s something more interesting about an imperfect mark, an unexpected edge, or a shape that isn’t quite what you intended. Those things give a painting some life. When I get too concerned with making every shape just right, I can lose the very thing that made me want to paint it.

So I’ve started a new sketchbook. The pages are square, a format that has always appealed to me. I can work in a 1:1 format and fill a ten-inch-square page from edge to edge if I want. So far, though, I’ve mostly been centering a 16:9 composition on each page and leaving a generous white margin around it. I like having that breathing room. It gives each painting a little space of its own.

I’ve deliberately limited myself to three big ole brushes: a three-quarter-inch flat, a one-inch flat, and a two-inch flat. Their size forces me to think in larger masses rather than fuss over little shapes. Detail is pretty much out of the question. That’s the idea. I’m hoping these brushes will help exorcise any demons of preciousness before they have a chance to seep onto the paper.

The sketchbook itself is casebound, with pages that lie flat. The paper is heavy Bristol, and it takes gouache quite nicely. I’m painting only on the right-hand pages, which means I can remove a painting and mat it for sale if I choose. Otherwise, the book will hold this latest batch of gouache work in one place—a bound archive of sorts.

For now, I’m enjoying the change. I don’t need every painting to be a keeper, and I don’t need every mark to behave. Sometimes it’s good to pick up a big brush and let it do what a big brush does.

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There are still a few bargains left in my October Studio Sale. Be sure to check ’em out before I yank that page down at the end of the month.