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"Painting is very easy when you don't know how, but very difficult when you do" ~ Edgar Degas

"Nap" 8" x 6" oil on linen panel

Learning how to paint well is a life-long journey. I suppose this challenge is what keeps an artist going. No matter how skillfully you paint, there’s always room for improvement. Past and present, even the very best painters have commiserated over how elusive it is to produce top quality work every single time. Of course, the more you do the better you get, but still your competition is with yourself, your last painting and how you can get even better the next time. For me, there are many times when the paintings I envision fall far short of realization in the finished work. Sure, you might get close, but there’s always something that didn’t quite work out the way you thought it would. And so you are in pursuit of becoming a better painter. And yeah, it takes a lot of time… !

"Dashing" acrylic on panel 2" x 4" 

There are many technical elements in painting – composition, drawing, values, colours, contrast, hue, temperature, shapes, edges, brushwork – that constantly need attention and readjusting throughout the work. It often feels like you have 10 balls in the air and all you can do is keep painting your way through it! And that doesn’t even touch on the entire premise: The concept, the mood, the emotion, the intention, and why you are impelled to pursue a particular piece.

"Mr. Frisky Hooves" 6" x 8" oil on panel

In my last blog, I went through the process of how I create an acrylic miniature painting. It’s a more controlled, deliberate method that I really enjoy doing. Sometimes I find it frustrating and time-consuming, but for the most part I savour settling in for a long, intensive focus on creating a highly detailed miniature.

 "Joy of Assateague" 2.5" x 3.5" acrylic on panel

Painting “alla prima” in oils, however, is a whole other animal. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I’m borrowing the title – “Everything Everywhere All at Once” – to emphasize the suggested chaos of alla prima painting when compared to the methodical control of realism painting. I’m not saying one is better than the other. They’re both valid and I do love the contrast of the different styles, but I've found that many artists - once they’ve achieved some success in realism - crave a more painterly approach.

 "Golden Years" oil on linen panel 10" x 8"

Alla prima is a direct painting approach. In contrast, indirect painting is a process of doing the drawing first, transferring it onto your support, and building your painting by layering the values, colours, etc., adding more details and adjustments with each layer as you proceed. I’ve done many paintings that have taken me well over 100 hours to complete in this manner. Alla prima on the other hand is usually done in one session, while your oils are still wet. Values, colours, shapes, edges, and form are tackled all at once; simply and with a minimum of detail. When done well by a painter with skill, it reads as “real” and painterly without the painstaking meticulousness of a time-intensive technique. “Skill” is the key word here!

"Walking on Sunshine" 3" x 5" acrylic on panel

Recently I’ve been attending a class taught by Palden Hamilton, a very accomplished local painter who has studied with several notable instructors. His guidance has been invaluable to me as I’ve been concentrating on improving my alla prima technique. Not a lot to show you yet, but I’m including a few samples of some of my looser works as well as my more comfortable realist pieces.

 Portrait from life  10" x 8" oil on panel

Chaos vs Control: One of the most exciting things about being a painter is how vast and unlimited the subject is, how much of a challenge it can be, and how you never, ever, stop learning. 

 "Windsor" 10" x 8" oil on panel

  "Beauty" 3.5" x 2.5" acrylic on panel

Feel free to comment on your experiences as a realist and/or alla prima painter! I’d be interested in how you view the two approaches, and if/how the styles inform and influence each other in your painting journey. I'm always interested in what people think about my posts, anyway, whether you paint or not. Thanks!

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