Monday, May 27, 2013

Alla Prima- what's that?


Daisy Duke, oil on 9x11" panel, $490

I'm working on lots of smaller paintings now for my final surge of work for the Fountainhead Gallery show in August. It's such a joy to work smaller after doing larger pieces that take three weeks to complete. These little ones are much quicker and are a lot more fun to work on. I do them Alla Prima which is a style of painting where you work wet-into-wet so you have to complete it in one session. Wet-into-wet means the paint is always wet so if you want to mix the paint, you push harder with your brush to dig into the layer below or if you want the paint to lie on top of that last stroke, you place it lightly with the end of the brush. When done right, those top strokes can be exciting and fresh.

Working towards a show is a good way to keep you in focus. I tend to bounce around with subject matter but a show means staying cohesive and working within the confines of a theme. On the other hand, the show is up for barely a month and it takes a whole year for me to completel a dozen works that are show quality so it's a big investment.

Fountainhead Gallery is a really lovely gallery up on Queen Anne hill in Seattle. Please put August 10th on your calendar for the opening night. If you would like an invitation in your email in-box, go to my website's guest book and sign in. Meanwhile, as they say in the business, keep your brush wet!




 

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