I took a plein air art class in Cape Cod a few summers ago and painted Vivian's (teacher) flowerbed with pastels (chalk). She had us do an exercise where we randomly made strokes on paper for 30 minutes. It was a really good loosening up exercise. The painting process then flowed more effortlessly. This second time, I painted the scene with oils for permanence but kept the brilliance of pastel colors with lots of bright, transparent oils. It is painted on the sides too so does not require framing.
"Vivian's Cape Cod Garden" 16 X 20" Oil (c) Ann McCann 2017