Alla Prima Still Life Painting
Over the course of the weekend we will explore a variety of concepts and techniques through alla prima still life painting. Students can expect to come away with a stronger sense of composition, how to depict objects with a greater sense of three dimensional form and clarity of light, and how to capture the uniqueness of different textures in still life painting. Through demos, exercises, and hands on practice, students will come away with more confidence in drawing, mixing colors, and creating variety in edges and paint texture to achieve greater expression and accuracy in their paintings. Students can expect to make a new painting each day.
Required Supplies
Canvases and Supports:
Bring 2-3 canvases/surfaces you are comfortable painting on. I recommend sized between 6x8 and 11x14. I often paint on Claessens 13 Double Oil Primed Linen Panels. A few companies sell these, such as Raymar, Sourcetek, and New Traditions. A decent cheaper option is Centurion Linen Panels. (Jerry's Artarama often has good sales on these).
Basic Palette of Oil Paints: Bring whatever you have and are comfortable painting with. Don’t feel the need to buy all of the pigments on the list just for the workshop.
- Titanium White
- Ivory Black
- Burnt Umber
- Raw Umber
- Yellow Ochre
- Cadmium Yellow
- Light Cadmium Red
- Burnt Sienna
- Alizarin Crimson
- Ultramarine Blue Cobalt Blue
*Additional Pigments that I will use but are not essential:
- Radiant Turquoise
- Naples Yellow
- Italian Radiant Magenta
- Violet Grey
- Rose Grey
The brands I mostly use are Old Holland, Gamblin, Williamsburg, and Holbein.
Brushes:
Bring whatever brushes you have and love to use. I recommend having a variety of different sizes and types of brushes. Some bristle, some softer synthetic brushes. I use mostly filberts and rounds.
Other Painting Supplies:
- Gamsol Odorless Mineral Spirits
- Airtight brush washer for holding mineral spirits
- Palette knife
- Palette
- Linseed oil or your preferred medium
- A small sketchbook
- Pencil
Still life Objects:
Bring a few objects that you would like to consider painting. A variety of different textures and size of objects will give us lots of options to explore composition. We will also provide some still life objects as well.
