I took a wonderful Alla Prima Still Life workshop from Sadie Valeri recently and really enjoyed the class. She is such a generous and knowledgeable teacher. I really appreciate the way she is able to verbalize what she’s thinking as she demonstrates and how organized and thorough her teaching style is. I got this one nearly done before the end of the day and finished it up at home from memory.
We started the day by doing a lemon study on Canson Vidalon Vellum. What a great idea for a painting surface for studies–so much cheaper than using panels or canvases. Taping it to a board with a piece of white or grey paper underneath works great. This was a limited stroke painting, done quickly as a warm up to practice laying in colors in little color chips, side by side.
Jana Bouc, Artist 
16 replies on “Studies from Sadie Valeri’s Alla Prima Still Life Workshop”
Love your avocadoes!! Beauties!! So glad you enjoyed the workshop! God bless, C-Marie
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Thanks C-Marie. It was a wonderful day. Do people call you C-Marie or is that just your online name?
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both are so rich, the brush strokes and the color
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Thank you Rebecca. So pleased by your comment–those are things I strive for but don’t always succeed.
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They are both great!! Thanks for sharing these and the tip on vellum for studies…..I’ve been gessoing watercolor paper and matte board for studies but vellum sounds like an interesting (although maybe not cheaper?) alternative.
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Thanks Carol. Even better than Vellum I’ve discovered is Grafix Dura-Lar Matte. It’s heavier and stands up beautifully to oil painting. It does need to be mounted though if it’s going to be framed (mounted on Gessobord is one way to go). I think mat board is a little easier when it comes to framing. The Duralar and Vellum aren’t too expensive, possibly less than watercolor paper depending on the size. But since it’s transparent, it needs something white or gray behind it when you’re painting. But the transparency also makes for easy transferring/tracing of a drawing and it’s great for drawing on because it’s very erasable without getting worn down.
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Oh so beautiful! Your composition, color choices and painting style is so inviting to look at. Thank you for sharing your work.
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Thank you for sharing your kind thoughts! I really appreciate you taking time to write!
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🙂 The avocado looks delicious!
And I wouldn’t mind eating an pear either.
As always – beautiful, dear Jana! 🙂
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Thank you so much dear Ms. Happyface!
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The Vellum tip is great and I like both of your paintings. The art store that I’m close to now sells the holes cutout of mat boards in packs of 20 for 2 bucks, these are great for studies also. Keep up the good work!
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That sounds like a great deal Chris. Even better than Vellum I’ve discovered is Grafix Dura-Lar Matte. It’s heavier and stands up beautifully to oil painting. It does need to be mounted though if it’s going to be framed. I guess your mat board is a little easier when it comes to framing.
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Love the avocados. They look good enough to eat! Both are gorgeous paintings!
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Thank you Adele! Those were wonderful organic avocados but by the end of the day they weren’t looking all that edible!
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Hi Jana, The greens against a grayed field caught my attention. Lovely!
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Thanks Peggy. I’m finding grey can really be a painter’s friend. I used to think colors all had to be bright but only when neighbored with neutrals do they really shine.
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