Here’s an alla prima study I completed yesterday.  I’m working on a few larger paintings at the moment which require working in layers, but I got the urge to paint this lighter which I found while looking for something in a drawer of odds and ends.  It took about 4 hours to complete, and at times was a real test of nerves and patience – one false move and the whole thing can be ruined! I find the process is like completing a little puzzle: working out in what order to build up the image and deciding how much detail to include, always planning ahead to the finished piece.

I’m also fascinated by how much detail can be left out, to be filled in by the viewer’s mind.  This is one of the things  E H Gombrich talks about this in his book,  Art and Illusion.  He quotes a Chinese maxim on painting which I like to think about while I work:

 

‘Ideas present, brush can be spared performance’

 

‘