Alla-prima or Wet-on-wet (is Italian, meaning at first attempt), is a painting technique, used
mostly in oil painting, in which layers of wet paint are applied to previously administered layers of wet
paint. This technique requires a fast way of working, because the work has to be finished before the first
layers have dried. It may also be referred to as direct painting or the French term au premier coup (at
first stroke).
This three day workshop will apply this painting method to the portrait as our subject, painted
from the live model, and each days lesson will build on the previous day. The first day, attention will be
paid to proportion and drawing using only brown paint in order to achieve our first painting. The second
day's painting will build upon this start, and then also work with flesh-tones in order to build the forms of
the surface anatomy. The third day's painting will build upon this by starting the same way, and then also
introducing a greater range of color. Repeated practice over the three days makes for increased ability.
The result by the end of the workshop is a greater facility of painting the portrait from life and a
better understanding of the building stages from start to finish, combining drawing, modeling surface

forms, anatomy, color, and developing a focal point. Each student will leave with three finished alla-
prima portraits.

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