How To Paint The Figure Alla Prima

Painting Alla Prima

One of my favourite practices as an artist, is to paint from a live model in one session ‘Alla Prima’. The term alla prima means to finish a painting in one sitting, or in one session.

Painting the figure from life forces us to make positive, deliberate decisions. We have a time limit. The model, a living breathing human being, is right in front of us, and is skilfully and patiently, and sometimes even strenously, holding a still pose for the other artists in the room, for a set period of time, usually co-ordinated by the group organiser. It is our job as artists to capture some kind of unique expression, essence or resemblance of the model that we find interesting, unique or attractive. Such as capturing the gesture, mood, emotion or feeling, and record that unique moment in time through our decision-making and mark making.

We often do this through meticulous calculation, constantly measuring body proportion, distances, paint mixing, light & shadow, warms and cools, combining our discovery and knowledge with creativity and skill, with the physicial materials we have in our posession.

In this blog post, I am going to show you how I approach painting the figure from life alla prima.

Choose Your Brushes

Imagine you are about to go into battle, you must select your best weapons to face your opponent. You must do this every time you decide to show up at your easel. You must choose your materials wisely, imagine what moves and strikes you will make, visualise yourself executing a hand, an eye or an earring with a few bold strokes, and then bring the chosen brushes to your easel, ready to paint .

“Do not just pick up the brushes you used and cleaned yesterday because they are there. Put those back, look at all of them, and then choose your weapon, like a type of gun or a certain type of sword. You are going into battle and you want the best weapon for the job. ”

— Richard Schmid

The Underpainting

Usually I paint a light coat of burnt sienna, thinned down and diluted with odourless mineral spirits, which is contained inside the metal brush cleaner. But for this painting, I used a thin black wash, which gave the appearance of grey on the canvas panel. Depending on if you want the entire surface area painted, or just a section in the center, you can use a large or medium brush to spread the paint around. Then apply a paper towel to dry and push the paint on the surface.

Close up shot of the thin, grey background I painted on the panel before starting to paint the model.

Background Wash

A background wash is optional, depending on your personal preference. Sometimes I will paint a thin layer of diluted burnt sienna mixed with paint solvent, however I usually do this for landscape paintings. Sometimes for a portrait or figure study, I will paint a thin wash of black on the canvas panel, thinned out with the solvent, which gives an appearance of a grey tone. I then take a paper towel and smear the paint around the canvas, taking off most of the moisture so I can continue to paint back on top of it within minutes, and sometimes, seconds.

You can always paint directly on the already primed surface of the canvas.

A Limited Palette

This was my limited palette selection for this painting study. It is very similar to the Zorn palette, except I swapped the Ivory Black for a Burnt Umber. From left to right these colours include: Yellow Ocre, Cadmium Red Light, Burnt Sienna, Cobalt Blue and Titanium White.

Additional Paints

I also introduced two additional colours for this study, to paint vibrant colours in the models red dress. I chose Permanent Yellow Deep for a more saturated yellow/orage which I used as some of the reflected light on the models red dress, and Alizarin Crimson, to get some vibrant darks in the models dress.

Mixing Your Skin Tones (Limited Palette)

Why the limited palette?

From my experience so far, I like to keep things simple with portraits and figure paintings, especially when it comes to mixing skin tones, and when I know I need to be quick. By using a limited palette of around 4 colours, you will be surprised at the amount of variety of Hues (colours) and colour saturation you can create through mixing on the palette. I usually stick to the Zorn palette, using Cadmium Red, Yellow Ocre, Ivory Black (a cool black which can give the appearance of blue when placed against warm tones), and Titanium White.

I begin by mixing my mid-tone, I establish this by first checking my values.

This is a close up shot of my skin tone mixtures. For the mid-tone I used about 30% Cadmium Red Light, about 20% Yellow Ocre, and about 50% Titanium White.

For the dark-tone I used Burnt Umber, mixed with a little bit of Cobalt Blue. You can get very dark, darks with this combination, to decrease the value and increase the temperature, I would mix either some additional Yellow Ocre, or Cadmium Red Light, or simply mix in with the mid-tone mixture I previously made.

For the light tones, I add more Titatanium White with small amounts of Yellow Ocre/Cadmium Red Light.

Titanium White will ‘cool down’ and desaturate the paint mixtures, and will also make them lighter in value. You can always add additinal red/yellow to a light/desaturated mixture to increase it’s saturation.

Squint For Correct Values

Squinting is a simple way of establishing the values (lights & darks) of an object, person or scene quickly. When you squint all the way down, colour information is reduced, which enables you to detect the correct light and dark relationships, and local value (how dark or how light) of whatever it is you are looking at.

Sketch The Outline Proportions of The Figure

To start with, roughly sketch the outline and larger masses of the model using either a diluted Burnt Umber or Burnt Sienna. I usually sketch this initial outline with a flat brush, using only the sharp tip of the brush, almost vertically against the canvas. I find that this is very similar to sketching with a pencil. If you make a mistake, just take a rag and scrape of the paint, then try again. Details are not important at this stage, focus on the larger masses, the correct angles and proportions, and try to get done the outline of the sketch in as few strokes as possible.

The Block-In

After establishing the sketch outline of the figure on canvs, the next step is to begin the ‘block-in’, where we establish the darks, lights and mid-tones of the figure. When painting the block-in, paint thickly, mix plenty of paint, use the biggest brush you can, and focus on the larger shapes.

You can see at this early stage of the painting, where I sketched the outline and proportions of the figure using a thin wash of burnt sienna. Some of thee initial sketch lines I left in the ‘finished’ painting, as you will see at the end of this post.

Paint The Mid-Tone First

Many artists will advise that you to begin by painting with the shadows. I also sometimes start by painting the shadows first, but I find that with the figure, I have an easier time determining the correct darks and lights in relation to each other, once I have first established the mid tone. In this case, the models skin tone gave the appearance of a light, golden brown, which is what you would expect to find in a slghtly olive-skin complexion (the model was part Portuguese), combined with indoor warm lighting.

As a side note, I recommend you paint with a cool light bulb shining on both your canvas and your palette, which is similar to daylight, or your colours will look different from the studio light of night, to the natural light of day.

After establishing the skin tones and light/shadow areas of the skin, I begin blocking-in the models vibrant red dress. You can see my thick, impressionisitic-like brush strokes here, I also used a little bit of Liquin Impasto to give a thicker appearance and brush-like texture quality to the paint, which can often get lost when blending.

After placing the mid-tone, I begin blocking in the dark tones, and then progress towards the lighter tones whilst leaving the brightest highlights, usually placed in the focal areas for contrast, towards the end. I blend only a few select edges for an alla prima painting, but not all of them.

Seize The Moment

You should keep in mind that you need to paint in a relaxed state, but also relatively quickly and decisively, as the model is only in front of you for a while. Paint in a calm, sharp, and focused state of mind, seize the moment, and make every stroke count!

Towards the end of the painting, I introduce the additional colours for the warm highlights and shadows of the models dress, I also introduce a mixture of Cobalt Teal, Alizarin Crimson, and Cobalt Blue for the models book. I keep the paint strokes thick, loose and painterly, I also add a few additional warm grey tones to the background, and a few more white strokes on top.

Practice Your Footwork

Painting at the easel, the physical movements involved is a little bit like fencing, or dancing. I think it pays to be light and swift on your feet when painting alla prima, to move away from the canvas often to get the bigger picture, and not to get caught up in the details. The process is almost akin to a lightening fast martial artist such as Bruce Lee, and how he used to practice his forward/backward lunging steps. You will want to dart in and out at a rapid pace, brush in hand, ready to make your best possible stroke, or correction, as if you were lunging with a sword. But of course, you can still do this effectively by moving slowly, if you prefer.

And you should do this often, because the moment you step back away from the canvas, you can more easily see and determine what’s going right and what isn’t. The temptation is to sit still and get lost in the details, try not to do that, especially early on. Practice your footwork, and be light as a feather.

The painting process at the easel is exciting and exhilarating at times, embrace it, and use it to its strengths.

Hold Steady

Now almost like an archer, who has pulled back the string, holding himself as still as possible, who is now set to release the arrow when the exact moment is right, you must also hold your brush as still as you can (and maybe also your easel), to make the brush strokes in the area of interest/focal area are accurate and as close to the mark as you had intended.

As the painting progresses, and you find that the time has come to paint smaller areas or details, especially in the face, hold steady. Sometimes I will even hold my breathe for a few seconds as I paint the finer details in the face as I find I can keep my hand held in the air more still. You can also try to hold your little finger against the canvas, balanced on the tip of your finger nail, or use a mahl stick, which I personally haven’t tried yet.

Finish

As the painting comes to an end, go in for your final few marks, leaving some of the original sketch-like quality behind, take a step back, breathe, and call it an alla prima painting study, done.

Apply the finishing touches, sign your initials or signature, and frame. And your alla prima painting study, is complete.

Portuguese Lady In Red close up.

Close up 2.

Close up 3.

Thank you for reading my post. I hope you found some value in it. If you would like to see future art blog posts from me, just subscribe to my free newsletter below.

Please like and share.

- Robbie

Plein Air Painting As An Essential Practice For Artists

For hundreds of years, artists have sought to capture something of the colour and light in landscapes, and beauty found in nature.

Many of the great masters, who’s work we are able to witness in museums, often spoke about the importance of getting outside and painting as much as possible ‘en plein air’.

But why is the practice of plein air painting different from painting from a photograph inside the studio? And why should we aim to practice getting out into the elements to paint on-site regularly, whatever the weather?

From my own personal journey so far, I can tell you that, nothing quite compares to the experience of painting from life, both from the live model inside the studio, and in the field, on top of a high cliff looking out across the coast and sea, sitting down an urban alleyway, or by a lake, looking up at mountains, glaciers, and surrounding forests.

A photo of me sitting and painting ‘en plein air’ on a bench, in Lisbon, Portugal October 2020.

As artists, when we place ourselves under some level of pressure such as painting from life, I believe we often produce our best quality of practice, concentration and focus, whether that be with a definite time-limit where a model is being paid to pose, or the inner knowing that immediacy is of the upmost importance when out in the elements, as the conditions can change rapidly, and so can the light.

This was the view of my finished painting study from the same bench I was sitting on in the photo above. This place was called Miradouro de Santa Luiza in Lisbon, Portugal. A place a lot of tourists and couples flock to at sunset.

Painting Outdoors vs. Painting Inside The Studio

There is a number of advantages to painting from life, or en plein air. It seems to be more of a relaxed drawing or painting process when not working directly from life. When working from photo reference in a studio, you can allow yourself to move and paint slowly. You can give yourself more room to play with experimental practices and new techniques without too much consequence. You are more likely to listen to a podcast or something similar playing in the background, and reduce your full attention to think, mix colour, calculate and paint. But when you bring yourself to study the figure, or landscape directly from life, whilst committing your full focus, a whole new experience presents itself to you.

Below are some of the abilities, skills and situations that I think you will find yourself in when painting from life.

This is my graphic that I created for one of my favourite artist’s John Singer Sargent. This is his painting ‘A Marble Fountain at Aranjuez, Spain ~ John Singer Sargent, 1912’

“Cultivate an ever continuous power of observation. Wherever you are, be always ready to make slight notes of postures, groups and incidents. Store up in the mind... a continuous stream of observations from which to make selections later. Above all things get abroad, see the sunlight and everything that is to be seen.”

— John Singer Sargent

Light, Atmosphere & Increased Observation

When outdoors, you are exposed to different kinds of lighting, things like atmospheric perspective and temperature. An overcast day will provide you with different conditions than a scorching hot day in the desert with direct sunlight, or a cold, windy, and rainy winters day in Ireland, Scotland or England.

These different painting conditions provide the painter with unlimited colour and lighting effects, and not only that, you are there in the environment, you are able to feel, sense, and experience where you are fully, and this has an impact on your work. I find that I am much more likely to notice and observe the subtle colour and light changes with my own eyes, compared to looking at a photograph.

The graphic I created for Monet’s quote and painting, ‘Nymphéas Waterlilies’ 1914-1917

“It’s on the strength of observation and reflection that one finds a way. So we must dig and delve unceasingly.”

— Claude Monet

Heightened Concentration

By painting outdoors, or from a live model, we know that we are about to commit ourselves to a challenging experience where we must use all of our senses and be fully present and concentrated on the task we have before us, in the moment. This forces us to do our very best for a period of time where we are less likely to be distracted, and really get into the ‘flow’ or enter a ‘flow state’ during the process.

I do think there is an increase in concentration levels that comes with painting from life, especially when you are outside when you are breathing in the fresh air, and fully aware that your painting conditions can change in an instant. It forces you to show up, it forces you to focus and do your best work.

A photo of me painting inside the medieval cathedral cloister in Èvora, Portugal, October 2020.

The Challenge

A challenge calls us to activate our competitive nature. It pushes us to do our very best, testing ourselves against ourselves, or another professional, to see what we really know, and what we are capable of. A lot of us like to ‘rise to the challenge’ so to speak, and when we do, we feel far better about ourselves for at least trying. Because showing up and committing takes courage. Making yourself as an artist, go out and paint from life, is easier said than done for many. I have spoken to other artists who feel they lack the confidence to try to paint outside.

But by showing up and trying your best, you will gain confidence.

A painting of French painter Paul Cezanne painting En Plein Air.

Your Eye’s Extra Sensibility & Perception

The camera lens can only capture so much from a scene we take a photograph outside. I have often compared a photo I have taken on location, versus what I actually see, and usually, the results are quite different. This has still proven to be the case once I have taken my photographs back home, and opened them up on a laptop, without any outside glare interfering with what I can see on the camera screen.

Your ability to see around forms in 3D with both eyes enables you to see and perceive much more than you can from a flat photograph taken through a lens.

Decision-making.

While plein air painting, we are forced to make quick, deliberate decisions that are not as common practice in the studio. In the studio, we are more likely to have some other distractions around us, we allow ourselves more time, or sometimes, we don’t even give ourselves time constraints. We are more likely to have extended breaks, and then get distracted by other things, and before we know it, our time is up and we have to do something else. I have noticed I can become less deliberate with my brush strokes when I don’t have a time limit with my work. This can lead to procrastination and putting off finishing tasks, or constantly reworking them in a perfectionist manner.

But when we are painting outdoors, there’s no messing around. We have to become quick, sharp, and efficient. Nature has become our training ground where anything can happen, and this kind of practice I believe is very beneficial to take back into the studio.

This is a photo of me, painting by a cliff edge of the cove below, in Lagos, Portugal, October 2020. The boat passing by suddenly caught my attention.

Ability To Perceive Warm And Cool Colours In Greater Depth.

You might be surprised at what you can observe and detect in terms of what is called bounce light, reflected light, skylight, and colours in shadows when painting outdoors. It is almost imperceivable to detect slight changes in colour temperature in the shadows for instance when looking at a photograph compared to real life and our own sight. But in real-time, shadows can come to life, and we can notice lots of different colour variations within them, all vibrating together. We should take note of these observations, and bring them into our paintings.

This was a recent plein air painting I finished in Lagos Portgual in watercolour & gouache. As you can see with the photo, the drakest areas shadow look almost black, but this wasn’t the case in reality.

Bringing New Knowledge Back Home

One of the great benefits of painting or drawing outside is that there is so much to learn, and bring back and transfer what you learn on the field, into your art at home or in the studio. This same knowledge can be applied to both traditional and digital art.

You go out on your own hero’s journey, easel or sketchbook at hand, paints and pencils packed. Your task is to find and defeat the dragon, and paint the thing you want to learn about and master.

After first experiencing painting outside in New Zealand and in South America, I returned home in England and painted en plein air for the first time. This was my first landscape study in England in a place called ‘The Rockery’ Brighton, the City I grew up in. This was in 2019, painted in oils.

This was another one of my plein air oil paintings from my hometown Brighton, earlier this year.

Getting Outside, Especially In Nature Is Good For You

and breathing fresh air away from technology and Wi-Fi is good for you. Often we as artists can end up spending so much time alone in our studios, often sat down and hunched over a desk and staring at a screen that we forget to enjoy the natural world and to get enough fresh air and exercise, all of which I am convinced, helps to improve the quality of our work and work flow.

A photo of me painting in the Algarve region in Portugal, sitting in nature and breathing in the fresh air.

Plein Air Painting For Different Kinds of Art

Painting en plein air is not just an essential practice for Landscape Painters, but also for artists and painters in various fields such as Illustration, Fantasy Art, Concept Art, Design, Fine Art, and the list goes on. What you are able to learn on the field becomes an invaluable direct experience, which you can take into your work, further down the line.

I aim to take what I learn from my landscape painting practice into my own fantasy art/illustration for both digital and traditional art.  

I am sure there are many more reasons why painting outside is an essential practice, but I might have to save those for a second post as I recall them, so watch out for part 2.

Thank you for reading

Robbie