Alla Prima Street Scene

The Italian, meaning of alla prima is the first attempt. Painting wet into wet is another way to explaining "alla prima". I like to work on the spot and put down the paint directly on white canvas , fast. When I painted this street scene I didn't use an under painting. Many plein air artist's use a yellow or burnt senna ground; killing the white of the canvas. I like the white and put all my colors down that I see; using the white of the canvas to gage the values and temperatures of color.

There is no fast rule for alla prima. Using a base color or not doesn't make a bit of difference, wet into wet is the meaning of  first attempt because you aren't going to apply wet paint over a dry color.
 It was a beautiful warmish day in Provincetown when I painted this scene. The white truck is my focal point. The details are the icing on the cake; details are subject to the whole of the painting.
A few telephone poles and figures give life to the scene, I felt.