Alla Prima Seashell Painting....

Open Grisaille - Oil on Panel 6x8"

well that is what I planned on doing this morning. I thought I would start with a quick underpainting of a seashell that I have. I set up the lights and quickly blocked in the angles and shape of the seashell on my panel using diluted asphaltum oil paint with mineral spirits.

Then I got sucked in and rather than moving onto the color portion of painting, I ended up painting a very developed underpainting or open grisaille. Oh well, it was too much fun to stop. Working from life is so much fun, hard, but fun.

This will give me a chance to mix my paints properly while the first layer dries. I have several shells that I have collected over the years so I plan to do at least on painting alla prima of a seashell....or many indirect seashell paintings.

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Tracey Costescu Fine Art

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