This week’s alla prima

This week, I chose a reference by Arthur Gain for my alla prima practice. I love his references because his classical lighting setups provide the perfect opportunity to practice.

Admittedly, I procrastinated before getting started—something I seem to do every time. The fear of failure can be paralyzing, making it hard to even pick up the brush. When I finally began, I was convinced I had messed it up completely. The colors looked off, and I doubted I’d be able to salvage the painting.

But I pushed through, deciding to stick with it a little longer, allowing myself to experiment. I had about three hours to work, and once I let go of the pressure to be perfect, the process became much more enjoyable. I relaxed, had fun, and focused on learning rather than getting everything “right” and producing a "master piece".

In the end, I was happy with the result, even though I didn’t have time to resolve every detail. That wasn’t the point. My goal for this session was to practice drawing, structure, values, and skin tones.

I worked on a wooden panel from Jackson’s Art that I had primed with a grey imprimatura some time ago. I really enjoyed painting on that grey ground, and I think I’ll use it again in the future.