Friday, July 08, 2011

Painting alla prima




I'm beginning to experiment with painting alla prima, which is when paint is mixed directly from the tube and a painting is completed in one sitting as opposed to layering and glazing until proper color and values are built up over time.  I hadn't realized how much I depend on using the transparent/opaque qualities of oil paint in my regular layered painting style.  My desire is to have more vibrant color and develop effective brushwork to have a more painterly feel in my work.  Studying alla prima and plein air seem like the way to reach that goal.  I've been experimenting with different supports as well, this little painting is on linen.  I usually work on panels when I layer and glaze and I always smooth my brushstrokes, but I can see the linen is much more beautiful when painting alla prima.  






3 comments:

Diane Hoeptner said...

Welcome to the blog-o-sphere, Sarah! I like I see so far and I look forward to seeing future paintings. The frames look awesome, I bet your new galleryw will be delighted!!

Sarah S said...

thank you Diane!

M Lownie said...

Your transparent hot reds look so delicious against that cool bluegray gradient background....just gorgeous!