Alla prima self portrait November 2014

Carmel

Hi guys, long time no post.
I moved countries over the summer, from Russia to the UK (temporarily) and then to Spain where I currently reside. During this time was without oil paints; I finally got my palette together this weekend and as soon as I could, I sat down for this alla prima portrait. The colours I used seems well suited towards skin tones, this being my most successful skin colour to date.

The photo could be better; the paint is still wet and I was too excited to show everyone to wait til it had dried. Let me know what you think, guys

Thanks to @dencal I edited the b/g, now I'm happier with it.

dencal

Carmel

Nice self portrait, I like the unblended rawness and the severe light.
Background contributes only distraction, I suggest softening the edges on the background.

Skin tones are a discussion on another thread at present, so what were your component colors?

Denis

Carmel

Hi Denis,

I agree, the background is a bit distracting; I'll soften it up a bit - probably lighten it up a bit to boot.

I can't take credit for coming up with this palette. It's what the London Atelier of Representational Art teach with. I want to attend this place so I'm using their palette primarily.

Colours were;
titanium white - it's more opaque than zinc white I think
naples yellow - to make a colour whiter without it becoming colder in temp.
cadmium yellow - mine was cm(medium) but more importantly this is a warm yellow
vermillion - warm red
alizarin crimson - cool red
yellow ochre - not sure if this is warm or cold but I found it useful for mixing browns
cobalt blue - it's great for cool highlights on skin and to show that bluey undertone that pale people have, it's apparent in the nearside cheek here and the shoulder near the tank top strap
raw umber - dark brown which I used for mixing shadows and the hair
ivory black - I used this with the darkest shadows but it's good for green tones when mixed with naples yellow.

I'll copy and paste this into the skin disc. too.

Carmel

How's that for the background? (the red is my easel)

dencal

Carmel

Yes, I like this better.

Denis

Ronna

Carmel, I think you did a great job on this portrait. I really like it! I like the softened background. Good drawing too.