This is my latest still life painting from the summer of 2001. I wanted to try out an alla prima technique from Kurt Anderson's Realistic Oil Painting Techniques book, published by North Light Books.

The painting measures 16 X 20 inches and was done in about 5 hours. It was challenging for me to use an all wet on wet painting technique, but I now prefer the immediacy of the alla prima technique and plan to stick to it.

By contrast, most of my illustration work was done using about 2 layers of paint. I would paint my first layer as best I could, let it dry, and then finish it up with a second layer. Anderson's book has an excellent description of both techniques.