"Bri at 17"

I absolutely love painting from life and quickly! Alla prima is a style of painting where, instead of building colors up with layers or glazing over an underpainting, the painting is completed while the paint is still wet. Strictly defined, Alla prima paintings would be started and finished in one painting session, but the term is also more loosely applied to any painting done in a direct, expressive style, with minimal preparation. Alla prima comes from Italian, literally meaning “at once”. Famous painters who worked in an alla prima style are as diverse as Paul Cezanne, John Singer Sargent, Mary Cassatt, Winslow Homer, Caravaggio, and Frans Hals. This portrait sketch was completed in two sittings in my studio. The size is 11 x 14, oil on panel. If anyone would like to have their portrait painted Alla Prima in my studio, please contact me to arrange a sitting time. The cost is $300 - for an 11 x 14 size, a single subject, oil on panel.

Hello,

I have had several questions recently about the work involved in the making of “Angel”. So here’s my attempt to give you a glimpse of the process and explain how I approached creating her.

After creating the idea of the painting in my mind’s eye, I set up my studio with the proper lighting and props such as the fabric, chair, and draping. Then I had to find just the right model to pose for me. I found Jeanine, a wonderful model who is also an artist and someone I could count on to be reliably available for several months. I scheduled her to work with me 3 days each week and nearing completion 2 days each week. Each session was 3 hours. I needed her October through April. Of course, there were some weeks we didn’t meet to due holidays, schedule conflicts, etc. But over time, as you can see, this became a big project! It took longer than expected.

With the preliminaries taken care of, and with Jeanine’s help, I tried several poses to capture the mood I was looking for. Once decided, I began drawing her in charcoal on paper, full size. This allowed me to easily make compositional changes in charcoal rather than in paint. For example, see where I added additional paper to the bottom of the piece, extending her foot? (Image 1 of 3) It’s all in the planning and this phase took the most time. I received helpful critiques along the way to keep me focused. This was my final project as a 4th year student of The Atelier.

After the charcoal drawing (called the “cartoon”, Image 1 of 3) was complete, I painted a small 11 x 14 color study (not shown). This helped me remember the mood, the lighting and colors - I use it as a visual aid while painting the big canvas.

Now I begin painting the big white linen canvas which had to be cut and stretched to heavy wooden bars by hand. I do this myself :(. Next, I paint very thinly to set the values and drawing. See how weird it looks to begin with? After the canvas is covered with very thin paint (called the “lay-in”, Image 2 of 3) I continue painting with thicker paint and adjusting detail to completion.

You ask, “What is the most difficult part of painting a piece this size?” For me, it was ensuring that the flow of light, shadows, colors and drawing stay relative to one another in order to reflect the natural states. It is so easy when you are up close to get lost in the joy of applying the paint! I had to constantly back away, re-think the next brush stroke and put the pieces of the puzzle together one passage at a time. “Angel” was completed in late April 2009.

So there you have it! I hope this answers some of your questions on The Making of “Angel”.

Sincerely, Kathy