Oil on Linen
I host a weekly life drawing group in my studio on Mondays. We're just a small group of friends who enjoy each other's company. Often our poses go for up to six weeks so that members can do polished drawings or paintings from the pose. This time, though, we ran the pose for four weeks. Now I know that there are a lot of very good alla prima portrait artists out there but I'm not usually given to alla prima work. Well, yes, I used to be an alla prima painter but in recent years, I've changed my style to that of a more polished look so I'm badly out of practice on alla prima portraits.
I do like to do studies every so often and I have decided to dedicate every other session to just painting from the model rather than drawing. This study of our model, Lauren is the first in a long time. I try in these little pieces to focus on the bigger picture and limit myself to just a couple of brushes. Basically I use three. I have a 1 1/2 inch for the background and other larger shapes and a 1/2 inch for the medium shapes and a 1/4 inch brush for the smaller shapes. I'm learning to wield the larger ones with more finesse and I resist the urge to go to smaller brushes. Usually I can achieve a fine line when needed by turning the brush on it's edge. So much more to learn here.
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