Expressive Painting

I think most painters reach a point where they know something needs to change. You can handle a brush, you can mix colour, you can get a decent likeness of whatever's in front of you. But the work feels safe. Careful. Like you're holding your breath the whole time.

That's where I was for a long time. I'd stand at the easel, look at a landscape, and try to get it right. Every brushstroke was measured. Every decision was cautious. And the paintings were fine, but they never felt like they had any life in them. They didn't carry the feeling of actually being there.

Expressive painting, for me, is about letting go of that tightness. It's about responding to a place rather than recording it. Using bold marks, unexpected colour, texture, movement. Trusting your instincts instead of your reference photo.

If you're anything like me, the idea of loosening up probably feels exciting and terrifying in equal measure. That's completely normal. I still feel it. Every time I start a new piece, there's a moment where I have to remind myself: this isn't about getting it right. It's about getting it alive.

This page is where I've gathered everything I've learned and taught about painting more expressively. Guides, articles, courses. Whether you're just starting to explore a looser way of working or you've been at it a while and want to go further, I hope you'll find something here that helps.

What does "expressive" actually mean in painting?

People use the word "expressive" a lot in art, and it can feel a bit vague. So here's what it means to me, practically, when I'm standing at the easel.

Expressive painting is about mark-making that carries energy. Instead of blending everything smooth and careful, you let the brush do its thing. You use big, confident strokes. You scrape back. You layer. You leave marks that show the process, rather than hiding it. The painting becomes a record of decisions, not just a picture.

It also means letting go of control. Not completely, there's always some structure underneath, but enough that surprises can happen. Some of the best moments in my paintings have come from things I didn't plan. A colour that bled into another. A mark I made too fast and then had to work with. That's where the life comes from.

And there's the shift from recording to responding. When I paint a moorland or a stretch of coast, I'm not trying to copy what I see. I'm trying to capture what it felt like to be there. The wind, the scale, the light shifting. That's a completely different task, and it asks for a completely different kind of mark-making.

If you've been painting for a while and your work feels tight or overworked, this is usually the missing piece. It's not about learning new techniques, it's about giving yourself permission to experiment, to play, and to let the painting breathe.

Guides & articles

I've written a few pieces that dig into the practical side of painting more expressively. Each one tackles a different aspect of loosening up and finding your own voice.

How to Loosen Up Your Painting
Practical approaches for getting out of tight, careful habits, from changing your tools to rethinking how you start a painting.

How to Develop Your Own Painting Style
Finding your own way of working is one of the most rewarding things in painting. This guide covers how to stop borrowing and start discovering what's yours.

Abstract Landscape Painting
If you're drawn to landscape but want to push it further, simplifying, abstracting, letting the place become something more personal, this hub page brings together everything I've written on the subject.

Courses

If you'd like to go deeper, these are the courses I've built around expressive and abstract landscape painting. Each one is designed to give you space to experiment, with enough structure that you don't feel lost.

The Abstracted Landscape
26 lessons | £150
Exploring how to take a landscape and make it your own. We cover composition, colour, mark-making, and how to move from reference to something more personal. A good starting point if you're ready to try a freer approach.

Wide Open Landscapes
Live course | £280
Focused on capturing the feeling of big, open spaces. This course is about scale, atmosphere, and bold, expressive mark-making. It's one of my favourites to teach because the results are always surprising.

Painting & Collage
24 lessons | £150
Combining painting with collage, tearing, layering, building up surfaces. If you want to break out of working with just paint on canvas, this is a brilliant way to discover new textures and possibilities.

Noble Art Membership
Monthly projects | 50+ tutorials
Monthly projects, fresh inspiration, and a community of painters all exploring more expressive ways of working. A good option if you want ongoing support and regular creative prompts.

Start here

If you're not sure where to begin, I'd say start with the article on loosening up your painting. It covers the basics and gives you a few things to try straight away.

And if you're ready to really dig in, The Abstracted Landscape is where most people begin their journey with me. It's structured enough to feel supportive, but open enough that you'll find your own path through it.

Whatever stage you're at, the most important thing is to give yourself permission to experiment. Not every painting needs to be a finished piece. Some of the most valuable work you'll do is the stuff that goes wrong, because that's where you discover what's possible.

I'd love to see where your painting takes you.

Lewis