Alla prima painting refers to painting fast, wet on wet, without waiting for earlier layers to dry before applying an additional coat of paint. Alla prima paintings are usually completed within a single painting session.
The impressionists liked the all prima approach, because they wanted to capture fleeting light phenomena, as well as expressions that quickly fade. Earlier painters used stiff poses in subjects, because they needed to have a model pose for them for hours and even days and weeks.
But is it still alla prima painting if you use acrylics, which are known to dry very fast?
Recently I experimented with alla prima painting. I completed a self portrait from a real life moving image of me on Zoom within about two hours.
I used a very loose painting technique.
What do you think? Watch me paint and let me know in the comments whether this is alla prima painting. Would it have been a better example of alla prima painting if the colors had mixed better? Should I have used gloss medium?
