Alla Prima II Companion – Richard Schmid’s Materials, Tools and Techniques
Author: Katie Swatland
If you are going to buy Richard Schmid’s Alla Prima II, you should go ahead and get this beautiful book by Katie Swatland. It’s about the same size and format as Richard’s book. Katie does an excellent job of diving deep into the nuts and bolts of Schmid’s painting materials, tools, and techniques.
The publisher notes state:
The path to creating great works of art begins with knowing the capabilities of your materials and tools... Contained within the pages of this book are detailed descriptions of the processes that go into the creation of a painting. Learn the importance of a quality working surface and how to customize it to suit your needs, and the demands of your subjects. Explore how to handle pigment washes to achieve color harmony in your paintings. Understand the considerations involved in choosing a palette, and discover ways to create and maintain it to ensure clean, beautiful color. Read about brushes and brushwork exercises you can practice to assist in achieving mastery over them. Discover the nature of light and why an understanding of its properties is crucial to successfully expressing your subjects in terms of paint. Learn to stretch canvases, varnish paintings, photograph and ship them safely. Take a studio tour and explore helpful setups and designs. Learn the benefits of keeping a portable studio and how to custom build your own. Join Katie Swatland and Richard Schmid in this adventure as they dive into all the little nuances of painting technique one needs to know to create the paintings that live in the far reaches of the imagination.
Like Schmid’s book, this one is not inexpensive. You are better off buying it directly from Schmid’s website. I’m including the links to Amazon because every once in a while a good deal shows up there.
Artist and Author Katie Swatland
