Loosen Up Your Paintings

Whether you are a beginner or an experienced master, Ryan’s expert guidance will help you break free from rigid techniques and give you a whole new lens to see the world. 

He’ll give you step-by-step instructions about brushwork, embracing imperfection, and creating paintings that are full of life and energy.

In this video:

• Introduction–learn to think of the figure not as a figure, but as shapes
• Materials & Tools: 
• Ryan puts a focus on “Principles over Process” and does not spend more than a couple of minutes talking about supplies
• Design & Composition
• “This is your scene, your movie, your painting!” 
• 3 important pieces of a sketch: Point, Line, Mass
• Simple strokes for graceful shapes 
• “It's the awkward elephant in the room if you can't draw.”
• Block In
• Wash on color, anything goes
• Add dark shapes with paint
• Wipe out light shapes with paper towel
• Quick measurement tips to check or adjust placement of shapes
• Viola, a figure appears!
• Develop the Painting: Color, Value, Edges
• Watch Ryan build up the painting then break it down
• When  you get stuck, do something to the painting so you can react to it
• Mess it up to fix it
• Use a palette knife for added boldness
• Step back and look at it in reverse often
• Keep brushwork moving in all directions for interest
• Pay attention to Negative Shapes
• Observation & Adjustment
• Ryan sits down and slows down to tackle the painting with Fresh Eyes
• 2 ways to shake it up if you don’t know what to do next or don’t like what you did–palette knife scrape thru or fling mineral spirits to give some drips
• How CONTRAST can make all the difference
• PLUS–learn a few dance moves from Ryan–getting excited about your painting puts you in a positive mood to continue
• Brushwork tips
• How to tell a story with background shapes as characters– figures or seagull
• Refine the Painting
• This is the time to make the Money Strokes–those graceful gestural strokes that you lay down and let tell the story
• Adjust with Negative Shapes and Spaces–carving into the positive as you need
• How to avoid those DANGEROUS lines
• Why working all over the painting is more important than finishing one spot at a time
• Say your color and value out loud–tell a story about it–will help you achieve it
• Call upon the masters to guide you
• Use “go for broke” strokes

UNCHAIN YOUR BRUSH - Let Go, Take Risks, and Develop Your Painting Style

What does freedom mean to you? For many artists, it means breaking free from rules that disrupt creativity. For others, it means finding the courage to paint what they feel, not just what they see.

But for ex-Marine-turned-master artist Ryan Jensen, freedom means unchaining your brush.

As artists, we naturally seek to improve our skills. But many of us get too caught up in perfectionism. We obsess over accuracy and tightening our brushwork. The result? Our work feels stiff and lifeless.

But when you unchain your brush, everything changes!

This course builds on the ideas introduced in Ryan’s Loosen Up Your Paintings — but goes further, focusing on risk-taking, motion, and developing a style that feels unmistakably you.

What You’ll Discover Inside:

• How Ryan pushes past “loosening up” and paints with movement, momentum, and instinct — even when the subject feels risky or unfamiliar
• A deeper look at how style actually emerges — not by planning it, but by making bolder decisions in real time
• How to keep your painting alive all the way to the end, without tightening up as you refine
• Why you should stop fixing your paintings and start responding to them
• Ryan’s approach to painting through uncertainty — what to do when you don’t know the next step, but know you can’t stop
• How to use motion, edges, and energy to say more with fewer marks
• Why taking risks on purpose is the fastest way to develop confidence, individuality, and a recognizable voice
• …and so much more!