11x14 Oil on Stretched Canvas
I recently bought Richard Schmid's book called "Alla Prima, Everything I know about Painting". I haven't taken much time to read it yet, but being disappointed with my tendency to tighten up in my painting method, I thought it was time to try something new. I have been trying some monochrome pictures to work on value. In his book, I read a method he uses for starting a picture called Monochrome block in.. Starting on a white surface, you draw in the shapes and values using a warm color thinned with turpentine. I chose Transparent Red Iron Oxide (a color I use often). You do a nearly complete value study. As he puts it, "you can work out all the problems in value, drawing, and edges without worrying about color-then do the finished painting on top of it with opaque paint." He recommends doing the over painting using paint with the consistency as it comes from the tube rather than thinning it. I chose a subject that has strong shapes and values. The small picture shows some of the value study with some opaque paint added in the cars and some of the road .The top picture shows the finished picture. You do not wait for the value study to dry, but start painting on top while it is wet. I really liked this method, and will certainly do it again.
