Alla Prima Process

Alla prima paintings are completed in one sitting.  When I paint a portrait this way, I draw with my brush, minding the spacial relationships between features.  Next, I lay in the darks using full color, to support the forms of the face.  The midtones, the lights and their transitions blend into the previous wet passages …

Values in Backlight

11″x14″ Oil on Canvas   I’ve often found myself frustrated while trying to realize form within a backlit subject.  The bright back round light tends to flatten the planes of a figure or face, making it difficult to read the values necessary to create the form of the features.  In a situation like this, the values …