Techniques from Alice:
“These paintings depict the Rio Grande under the John Dunn Bridge near Taos New Mexico. The painting was done in the middle afternoon in the shade of some trees. My process is usually to start with a few lines showing the movement and patterning of the landscape, then building on these initial lines with a drawing and then laying in the middle to dark values. These values are usually painted thinly with a little Gamsol to speed the drying. Then after the darks are in and starting to dry, I go back in with lights and the values next to them, correcting the drawing the whole time. If it is a plein air painting, I typically finish in about an hour and a half.
Getting the painting back to the studio, in a controlled environment, gives another chance to refine what was important on site. Going back in and making the small refinements, maybe the lights need to be a little lighter or darks darker. I try to make the refinements soon after getting back to the studio from my memory of the place and what it felt like to be there.”
