For our second session at the acrylic painting class with Craig Bowyer we were asked to pick our favourite art movement or artist that we would like to paint like and a photo that we would like to paint in that particular style.
I will admit that my knowledge of art history is lacking and as a result I spent the first 30 minutes of the class with my head in the library cupboard, looking through books of established masters desperately trying to find something that inspired me. After this time I decided that the masters were not giving me what I needed and trudged back to my easel empty handed.
I had previously come across an e-book version of the Richard Schmid classic Alla Prima – Everything I Know About Painting.
I must admit I had never actually heard of Richard Schmid a the time but thought it could be a worthwhile read so while on a family holiday late last year, I spent the evenings reading it in its entirety on my tablet. I found his thoughts and advice fantastic, especially for someone like me who was just stating out.
Mostly however I really loved his style of painting.
There was a fantastic ‘painterly’ quality to his work and an approach whereby many looked almost unfinished, but to have added any additional detail would have resulted in a far lesser image.
Back at painting class, I was hesitant to turn to Richard Schmid for this exercise and as I wasn’t sure if he really fit the brief but by this stage I just needed to start something.
I turned back to my tablet, brought up Alla Prima and decided just to just have another go at directly copying a painting that I found interesting.
I chose a piece called ‘My friend John’ and set to work instantly.
I was very happy with the end result – as was the tutor – and I feel this is a style I would definitely like to persist with and continue to develop my own style around.
