Alla Prima #12 - Z

Here is the next alla prima portrait, simply titled "Z".  Hope you like it... I'd say more about it but I'm tired.  More to come soon.

Alla Prima #12 - Z
oil on canvas
14x11 inches
2013
 

Alla Prima #10 Video

Hi everyone.. here is a new painting video for Alla Prima portrait #10.  Hope you enjoy!  More to come soon.

 

Alla Prima #11 - Meghan

This is the second painting from yesterday, #11.  I'm not sure exactly how many of these I'm going to do.  I'll probably just keep at it until I'm tired of them.. but for now I'll keep going because it's fun.  So apparently there is more snow on the way.. that's just great.  But the good news is that I made it out today after church and got some more canvases... so I should be good on supplies while I'm trapped inside from the awful weather.  Stay tuned for more soon.  I have a couple more videos on the way, and of course more alla primas to go. 

Alla Prima #11 - Meghan
oil on canvas
14x11 inches
2013
 

Alla Prima #10 - Sarah

Here is the latest installment of the Alla Prima series.  I attempted a painting yesterday, and it honestly did not go well.  So much wrong with it, and I'm not even going to post it.  So today, I was really hoping to redeem myself, and this is good enough I think.  I felt so good about this one, that I decided to make today a double-header and do Alla Prima #11... which I will post later.  I hope you enjoy this one, and there will soon be a video to go with it.  More to come...

Alla Prima #10 - Sarah
oil on canvas
14x11 inches
2013
 

Alla Prima #7 Video

Hey, if you like Alla Prima #7, you'll love its creation.  So here is the video for it.  Hope you enjoy!  More to come soon...

Alla Prima #9

Today really sucked.  So much snow I don't even wanna talk about it.
But the good news is I managed to get alla prima #9 done today.

Alla Prima #9
oil on canvas
14x11 inches
2013
 

Alla Prima #8 - Aimee

Here is the second alla prima from yesterday.  I noticed that most of these portraits had predominately warm colors to them, so I figured I needed to change things up a little and demonstrate that I actually do use blue in my paintings.  So hello blue, so great to see you old friend!
Well, the snow is on its way, so hopefully tomorrow will be a productive art day since I'll be trapped inside all day long.  We'll see what I end up with.  In the meantime, here is alla prima #8.

Alla Prima #8 - Aimee
oil on canvas
14x11 inches
2013
 

Alla Prima #7 - Old Man

Hi everyone,
Well, we're getting ready for a crazy snow storm this week... boo.  But the good news is that it hopefully won't affect painting this week.  Sadly, Summit Art's figure drawing class is already cancelled for this week because it doesn't look like we can avoid the snow coming on Wednesday night and Thursday.  Anyway, here is one of today's alla prima paintings... Yes I said one of them.  I actually managed to do two today, but I'm going to wait to post it.  In the meantime, here is this one.  I did this with the same sitter as The Wise Old Man.  You might be able to tell... it almost looks like the same painting.  Except this one is smaller, and is alla prima #7 in my series.  Hope you like, and stay tuned for more tomorrow.

Alla Prima #7 - The Old Man
oil on canvas
14x11 inches
2013

Alla Prima #6 - Velázquez Girl

Today I did an alla prima after my hero Velázquez.  It is simply a portrait of a girl with a white scarf over her head.  I love the original because it is so typical of Velázquez in its simplicity.  He makes it look so easy.  And it's one of those paintings that was clearly an alla prima.  The colors are limited, and the face is the most "painted" part of the picture, while the rest has that sketched-in look.  So here is my little alla prima after the Painter of painters.

Young Peasant Girl (after Velázquez)
oil on canvas
14x11 inches
2013

 

Still Life with Cantaloupe

Well, here's a little change of pace.. I did a little still life.  And in the process, I realized that I love figures and portraits way more.  But hey, this is good for me. 
So today is Ash Wednesday, and the beginning of the Lenten season... and I really did not plan for this year.  Much like last year, Lent creeped up on me and I have no clue what to do with it.  I had contemplated doing 40 Days of Paintings, but I don't really see that happening.  I don't know, we'll see what happens.  In the meantime, here's my still life.  Hope you like!



Still Life with Cantaloupe
oil on canvas
24x18 inches
2013

 

Alla Prima #5 - Self

I am preparing for another larger scale self-portrait soon.  The image I have in my mind is pretty much set, I just hope I can pull it off.  In the meantime, I did another alla prima study in preparation for it.  I didn't make a video of it.. which, as it turns out, was a good idea because this took longer than I expected.  I am hoping my perfectionism won't be my downfall.  The palette for this one was white, cad yellow, cad orange, indian red, burnt umber, and sap green.  Enjoy!



Alla Prima #5 - Self
oil on canvas
14x11 inches
2013

Alla Prima #4 En Brunaille - Video

Video for Alla Prima #4.  Real time was about 84 minutes.  This portrait was done en brunaille, which basically means I used primarily brown (burnt umber specifically) with a few other muted colors for the face (white, cad orange, crimson, indian red, cad yellow).  Enjoy!

 

Young Girl in Blue - Video

Here is the video for Young Girl in Blue.  Took about a day or two to edit and prepare, so I hope you all like!  Make sure you're watching these videos in 1080p, by the way!  Or if that's too much, I hope you can enjoy it in 720p.  Anyway, enjoy and be inspired.. and as always stay tuned for more to come.

Alla Prima #4 - Brunaille

I don't really have a title for this one yet, so for now we'll just call it Alla Prima in Brunaille.  This is the 4th alla prima, and I think I will make a series out of these since I kinda already have.  Each of these are small 14x11 inch portraits, and so far each one has focused on a certain principle or idea.  This one being in muted color, and mostly in burnt umber (en brunaille).  The previous one, Disheveled, is an example of a limited palette, also with muted colors.  The one before that, Lady in a Red Scarf, was a portrait showing the effect of chiaroscuro, or light-shadow contrast.  And the first one I did, just simply called Alla Prima Portrait (study) was one that demonstrated two light sources.  So basically, the shadows were right in the middle of the portrait. 
So anyway, I hope you like this one, and stay tuned for more to come!



Alla Prima in Brunaille
oil on canvas
14x11 inches
2013

Baby It's Cold Outside

Actually, it's been quite mild for February.  I'm kinda loving it.  But anyway, here is another painting for your (hopefully) viewing pleasure, and this one is called Baby It's Cold Outside.  I'm going back and forth honestly about whether or not it's finished.  For now, it is.  But if it bothers me too much, I will go back in a few weeks and touch it up some more once it has dried to the touch.  Hope you like it.  There is no video for this one, but the video for my previous portrait Young Girl in Blue is on its way.  Plus I did another alla prima today, which I will post soon, and it will have a video as well.  For now though, I hope you enjoy this one.  More to come...




Baby It's Cold Outside
oil on canvas
16x20 inches
2013
 

Young Girl in Blue

I worked on a couple of paintings today, and this is one of them.  Gonna try to get a video soon for this one.  In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this one.  And if you are on Facebook, I will have an invitation out soon for the Blue Springs Art Show coming up in March.  As for the other painting from today... it is called Baby It's Cold Outside, and it will be up very soon.  It is basically done, with just a few last details and highlights to touch up.
For now, here is Young Girl in Blue.  Enjoy!



Young Girl in Blue
oil on canvas
20x16 inches
2013
 

Disheveled - Video

Here is the video for my latest painting, Disheveled.  Enjoy, and stay tuned for more this week!

Alla Prima #3 - Limited Palette

This is the third alla prima portrait that I've done recently... this might become a series.  Anyway, this one is a little different because I used what's known as a limited palette.  In other words, I didn't use very many colors.  I actually started out with a full palette prepared, but I ended up using only a few colors... namely prussian blue, burnt umber, indian red, cadmium yellow, and white.  I used a dab here and there of cad orange and sap green, but very little.  Overall, it was about a 90 minute painting.  Hope you like, and stay tuned for two more that I started today!



Disheveled
oil on canvas
14x11 inches
2013