Abby from Zimbabwe

From yesterday's alla prima class. This was tough for several reasons. First, that there was even less time than usual for this portrait, just a little over two hours' painting time, as the model was late (brought by her rather obnoxious boyfriend).


Second, I painted way too big. I've realized that, for whatever reason, my alla prima portraits have gotten incrementally larger every week...weird. Perhaps it's because I find portraiture--a real live human being's utterly individual face--so awesome. I'm going to really concentrate on whittling the size back down to something more manageable, starting next week!


Third, this was our first non-Caucasian model, so the entire palette was switched to something that none of us students had ever used before (but which was sooooo fun and colorful!): all earth colors, plus ultramarine, alizarin, and white.


So, all in all, a real shock to the painting mind--it was good for us, I'm sure, to shake things up, though my brain felt completely fried afterward, for the rest of the day. Amazing how tiring that much concentration is.  I hope to be able to experiment more with painting dark skin. If only I could get The Husband (he's from India) to sit still for more than 15 seconds!

More art on my website: jalapfaff.com