Bison- Alla prima
This year I plan to do more painting as I need to get well acquainted with the new brand of paints I have switched to. Changing to M. Graham's non-solvent oils has been a good move as I can now paint without feeling ill but I have to relearn my colour mixes as there is a slight difference to my previous brand and the only way to get familiar is to do paint!
My idea with this painting was to paint it loosely and in one sitting or alla prima which I did although I did a slight tweak the next morning and I was happy with the result. I tend to get bogged down in details but this piece didn't need them and the colour mixing went well.
The following images show my working process for this painting. I used a gessoed board that I textured myself which encourages me to paint in a looser style.
Painted outline on gessoed board
Burnt Sienna wash for background and some darks in as a guide for tonal range
I decided to work the bison through from top to bottom
I get so engrossed that I should have added another step before this one... oh well! All base colours are in and detail of the eye done.
Added more layers and lighter colours working towards the highlights. Worked over the background wash with a lighter colour.
A few minor tweaks the next morning adding highlights to the neck and softening some of the background strokes.
"Bison Study" oil on gessoed board, 10" x 12"
