How Long does it take to Make a Painting?
How long does it take to make a painting? I think that’s the question I get asked most. And annoyingly I respond with, it depends.
If I go back to my academic atelier roots it takes months to finish a painting. That is painting with the sun as my light source so I need to work during certain times of the day when the sun is in a consistent place in the sky. I am also working from life. So if it’s a figure painting I have the model in the studio with me, or if it’s a still life I have the set up in front of me. The process of working on a painting in a classical style is slow and deliberate with many layers. It definetly gives a beautiful result with great technique.
When I paint on location or Plein Air, which means open air in French, it is much faster. If I have my easel at the beach and I am painting the ocean it usually takes 3-4 hours to make the painting. Though sometimes I cheat and I will work on the painting more at home if I want to make changes.
The same can be said for another style of painting I like to do called, Alla Prima, which means all at once. With this style of painting I will finish it one sitting. So again usually somewhere around 3-4 hours. This style of painting is really beautiful because I can get a lot of thick brushstrokes in the painting and it has a fresh look of spontaneity. It’s also very satisfying to see a painting come together so quickly.
My favorite way to paint now is a combination of all those things. I pull my favorite parts of all those styles into a new painting practice which is all my own. When I start a painting this way I don’t know exactly how it will turn out. It’s a mystery. Sometimes I can wrap the painting up quickly in a couple weeks and sometimes it takes months. It is definitely more variable but I love the mystery and discovery of creating paintings like this. It has a beautiful style to it which is deliberate, spontaneous, and layered. It truly feels like me.
Your artist friend,
Jennifer Marie Keller
P.S.
Click here if you want to watch my 2 minute video on this.