I paint in a way that comes naturally to me.
Painting more loosely seems to be a thing that we all aspire to. I made me think for a long time that that was what I should be doing as well.
I read, that John Singer Sargeant, renowned for his thick brush stokes only achieved what appeared to be a certain ‘looseness’ by painting first in a tight manner, then wiping off the paint and then applying it more loosely.
I’ve heard several artists say that they do something similar. So sometimes what is happening is that the artist gives the appearance of looseness when actually a lot more thought has gone into the strokes.
I listened to an interview by Julian Merrow Smith who said something similar - that his is a thought- about deliberate looseness.
In the end I think just paint the way you paint and don’t worry about it. That’s what is going to give you your unique style.
Many artists paint a lot more tightly and with more realism. There’s a definite market for that and I’ve noticed a growing trend for a move back towards realism and thankfully a lot of color.