Peaches and Silver Cup Alla Prima Oil Painting Demonstration

Roses #6 sketch

9 x 6 inches, three David Austin Roses and an English teacup, painted from life.  This sketch is available at auction on my website.

Summer is here…  well it was here.  LOL everything bloomed and now we’re in an overn trying to bake all the flowers into crispy little corpses.  Sigh.  Every year, Illinois whine about the weather.  Too cold – too hot.  We’re never happy.

Roses #5 - sketch

6 x 9 inches, oil on linen, alla prima from life sketch of 3 david austin roses in a spice jar.  The variety is “Abraham Darby” and it’s one of the most beautiful roses I’ve ever seen.  I’ll probably paint these a lot.  Hooray.

This is available at auction.  On my site, just look for the widget on the right side.

A few of you have commented on my breakthrough, and thanks!  The more I paint something, the looser it gets, and more of my personality shows up in it.  Each kind of drip, line, edge, obliteration, and finish (or lack thereof) has a particular meaning in the narrative.  In the figure paintings, it’s probably pretty obvious, but in the floral paintings I guess it might not be. 

Some people have asked how I know “when it’s done”.  Actually, I see these in my head in mostly-done fashion right after the 3-value sketch.  So it’s a matter of driving to that vision.  “Vision” is sort of a high falutin word, and it reminds me of that character in “Heroes”, but that’s the gist of it.  Sometimes there’s some futzing around at the end and staring at it in a mirror, and then getting a sense for what it “needs,” like knowing your stew needs salt.

Dahlia Study

6 x 9 inches, oil on linen, study of dahlias.

I’m working on finishing up a commissioned painting of dahlias, so I did this study to help with the finish of that.   I’ve found that with multi-session paintings from photos, doing some paintings from life during the process really makes the paintings from photos feel more life-like.

Cherries and teacup

OK, now we’re getting somewhere.  7 x 5 inches, oil on panel.

Lavender #1

5 x 7 inches, oil on panel.  My studio smells so great!  I have roses, peonies, pansies, and lavender in here. MMMMM!!

I’m going to offer this one as an auction as well.  Check the link on the right side of the web page (on my site only, not in RSS emails or on FB - please click through to the original post thanks).

Peony #1

Oil on linen, 8 x 10 inches, alla prima sketch from life Peony #1

Here’s a closeup:

Peony #1 closeup

Sweet Pea Bush Blossoms, 6 x 8 inches

Alla prima from life, Sweet Pea Bush Blossoms, 6 x 8 inches, oil on panel.

Email Lisagloria@gmail.com if you would like to purchase this painting for $200 +$10 shipping.