Rebecca Alzofon

" Pompeii red, which she describes as 'an incredibly hot red-orange,' is helpful to turn forms at the edges and provides the local color often found in the fingers, toes, knees, elbows, and occasionally the lips."

"...Naples yellow [is] useful for making flesh tones advance or to increase illumination."

"...the artist defines her outlines slowly and carefully, aware that some of these lines, especially those around the fingers and toes, might appear in the final painting."

" The next step is basically a replay of the last, but using different colors. Alzofon compares the process to layering gauze. As she applies additional layers, the colors become more opaque, and there is a greater saturation of tints that gives the hues a more luminous appearance. This technique also produces a subtle interplay of colors filtering up from layers below--a look, the artist says, that could never be created with one swipe of color."

" The artist uses glazes to merge areas and help certain areas recede. For instance, in Young Woman Overlooking Silicon Valley, she used glazing to make the eye cavity recede, push the cheek back into the hair, unify the hair, and create the folds in the neck. Scumbling softened the face and created a slight motion blur that made the model look less static."

" Indicating the shoulder of the girl on the left in The Simons Children, Alzofon used an outline with an inward notch to pop the arm out from the chair and give it volume. 'I don't hide the fact that this is a line,' she says, noting that she learned this technique from looking at paintings by Rubens."






Her materials list: 

I.
Raw Umber, opaque: Gamblin, Williamsburg, Winsor Newton, Utrecht, or Daniel Smith
Raw Umber, transparent: Old Holland
White, flake or cremnitz

II.
Venetian Red:
     Williamsburg Rosso Veneto is natural, original Venetian Red rather than 'synthetic' iron oxide (all others)
     Old Holland--nice
     WN, Gamblin--a little orange
Terre Verte: Williamsburg Earth Terra Verte--bluish green
FW acrylic drawing ink: antelope brown/black/red earth

III.
all above, plus:
Williamsburg Pompeii Red
Old Holland Deep Ochre
Williamsburg Bohemian Green Earth OR Old Holland Olive Green Dark
Ivory Black: any brand
Burnt Sienna: any brand
Raw Sienna: any brand

IV. additional color needs due to clothing/backdrops
all above, plus:
Williamsburg Cadmium Red Vermillion
Williamsburg perylene crimson, or any brand alizarin crimson
Cadmium yellow light: any brand
Pthalo Green bluish: any brand
Ultramarine Blue, any brand

V. additional color needs for special flesh tones:
Williamsburg Cobalt Teal
Williamsburg Ultramarine Pink
Williamsburg Green Ochre (Italian Earth Series)
Williamsburg Brown Ochre (Italian Earth Series)
Williamsburg Red Ochre


(see site for materials lists for advanced drawing and ink drawing classes)