Green Heirloom Tomato by Jonathan Aller

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"Green Heirloom Tomato"

5 x 7 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

I have not painted these little gems in a while. The color of this heirloom caught my eye right away. They have such intense pure colors. What I enjoy most is the subtle values between the colors from one area to the other, painting that is challenging and rewarding once it's achieved. Painting light wrapping around this form is challenging but very educational to try. After painting this tomato my wife added it to our dinner which was as delicious as it looked. 

I started with the drawing stage by just using a bit of raw umber on the brush. Thinking of it as one would draw with a pencil. The pressure you apply to the brush it effects the value and intensity your marking will be. Once the drawing stage is complete I add local colors to the whole painting. This allows me to see how the painting will look in the completed stage with the colors I am thinking of. The next stage I then start to fill in the middle to darker values to all the objects in the painting, from the wooden board to the heirloom tomato. Then I add the lighter value forms to tie everything together. With this technique, especially being in alla prima, one has to has to be careful with the amount of paint being applied from the initial stages. Remember fat over lean, you want to start thin and get progressively thicker towards the finishing. I am also conscious of how many pressure I apply to the brush, as stated before I think of it as drawing with a pen or pencil. The lighter the pressure the lighter the value will be, the harder the value the darker the value will be. This also allows you to control smoother transitions. 

Thank you for stopping by and viewing. Cheers!

Pumpkin & Gourd

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"Pumpkin & Gourd"

4 x 6 in 

Oil on Canvas Panel

I wanted to stay on the theme of gourds and include a pumpkin. I couldn't just leave the gourd by itself, included the pumpkin as a central focus with a dominating presence. The story can go many ways when reading into the painting, its definitely behold of the viewer.

I started with a dry brush approach by just using raw umber and no mediums. In this stage I want to get the drawing as close as I can get it. When I start painting I want to make sure the drawing is as close to it as possible.

Once the drawing is complete I painted in the background and wooden base with its local colors. Once I painted the local colors in I painted the lighter values in the wooden base to give it more form. I want to take the wooden board to a close finish this will allow me to concentrate on the pumpkin and gourd and now worry about coming back and finishing it.

Once the wooden board is complete, I started to lay in local colors on the pumpkin and gourd. I apply a thin coat of paint trying not to go thick, remember fat over lean. In this stage I also paint big form modeling with the local colors. This allows me to concentrate how light wraps around the form. I am not worried about the smaller forms or "details" just how light wraps around the form. I am also keeping the values in a middle tone, not going to light or to dark. I'll apply the dark's and lights in the smaller form stages. I like to spend a lot of time in this stage getting it right, if it works well in this stage then the subsequent stages will go by smoother.

Once the local colors are working with the big form modeling, I then start to paint the darker smaller forms. I start to apply the darkest tones as well in this stage which will make certain sections look brighter.

Once the darker smaller forms are complete I then paint the lighter smaller forms . I repeat the same process as I did with the darker forms by putting in the lightest values. 

Hope you enjoyed this one, thanks for stopping by!

"Gourds" Alla Prima Painting by Jonathan Aller

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"Gourds"

6 x 6 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

My wonderful wife loves decorating around the house according to the seasons. She put these gourds on the dinning table a while ago and of course it caught my interest. This painting was done quicker than normal, it took me 2 and a half hours to complete. 

The first image, top left, is drawn with a dry brush approach just using raw umber. The second image, top right, I filled in the whole painting with local colors of each area. I filled in the gourds with its local colors and started with big form modeling. This is my area of focus which is the reason I went a little further in the initial stage.  The third image, bottom left, I worked with smaller forms after big form modeling was complete. The fourth image, bottom right, I approached painting the wooden board the same way I did with the gourds, first painting in the darks then the lights. 

Thank you for viewing, hope you enjoyed. Cheers!

Plein Air-ing it

"Alexandria"

10 x 8 in

Oil on Canvas

I love long weekends especially at the cabin with family and friends. Sleeping was the number one thing in the agenda and I am happy to say that I succeeded. Second to sleeping was continuing my journey with plein air paintings. As I mentioned in previous post landscapes are not my strong suit, but I do have an admiration for them and enjoy painting them any chance I can. I wanted to try to capture the time of day as fast as I can without having the distraction of putting every hair on a dog.  My goals were to capture the time of day, mood in the painting, and edit my process.

Similar to my previous post, I started with the top left picture with just a quick gesture of the landscape. I only want to capture the essence of the scene and its perspective. The top right picture shows my next step, this stage I only ad the overall tones for each section of the painting. This stage I like to call the "rough" in stage, still going quick to capture the type of light I want, similar to doing gestures but with color. This stage allows me to see how the overall color and mood that will be in the final painting. I want to try to keep close to this palette the further I move away from this stage and closer to the final. The bottom left picture I start to zero in on a section and take it to a finish. I first start with the darker values and move to the lighter values. In this stage I am taking the tree's in the foreground and the tree's in the background to a close finish. Then on the bottom right picture I complete the lake and sky, repeating the same process in working from dark to lighter values.  When all the shapes and values are stated in the painting and close to a finish I can then go around and put the finishing touches. 

Painting on location.

Here is another painting I did when the sun was starting to set the previous day. This was a really quick painting as the clouds were going in and out. The size of this painting is 5 x7 inches, being restricted to that size allows you to go much quicker.

Thank you again for stopping by and viewing. I hope you enjoyed this post and the paintings. Till next time, cheers!

"Star Fruits" by Jonathan Aller

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"Star Fruits"

8 x 10 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

Something about the last post must of had an effect on our weather, the temperatures started getting warmer and I am loving every bit of it. Spring is definitely right around the corner, now to just melt all the snow thats accumulated. I wanted to continue the alls prima serious with another painting of star fruits. Their color and texture really attract me. It has a nice variation of smooth and rough texture, not to the touch but more visually. I forgot how much I really enjoy painting alls prima's, I find it to be the same experience as drawing in my sketchbook. It's a way I can just set up a small little still life and just practice away. 

Thank you again everyone for stopping by and viewing my painting. Hope spring is around the corner for you as well.

"Contact" By Jonathan Aller

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"Contact"

8 x 10 

Oil on Canvas

I hope everyone is keeping warm in this brutal winter polar vortex. This winter has tested our patience and hopefully will let up soon. I wanted to do an alla prima painting of these star fruits to remind me summer is around the corner. It was fun painting alla prima again, to try to finish the painting in one sitting was challenging after not doing for a while.  Can't wait to produce more of these alls prima's to get back on the band wagon.

Thank you for stopping and viewing my painting. Stay warm!