🎨 Alla Prima Still Life Painting Demo

In this post, I’m sharing a full start-to-finish alla prima still life demo, along with insights into my process, tools, and daily painting routine. If you love loose, expressive oil painting, you’ll enjoy this one!

▶️ Watch the Video

What This Alla Prima Painting Demo Covers

In this video, I paint a A4 oil study from life using a simple but effective still-life setup—featuring a cup and colored ribbons under studio lighting. The entire piece is completed alla prima, meaning “all at once,” in a single session.

Here’s what you’ll see in the demo:

• Using studio lights to create clean, directional shadows
• Working directly from life with a strong focus on color harmony
• Keeping brushwork loose, energetic, and intentional
• Making adjustments to value, saturation, and edge quality
• Knowing when to stop before overworking the painting
• A real, unpolished look at my daily painting workflow

Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced oil painter, this demo gives a clear and accessible look at building a still life from scratch.

Materials Used

While I keep my setup simple, here’s a general list of what I used in the video:

• Oil paints (warm + cool primaries and neutrals)
• Assorted brushes for expressive marks
• A4 textured oil paper
• Still-life objects: Silver teapot and white napkin
• Studio lighting for clean, consistent shadows

If you’d like a detailed materials list, let me know and I can post it here or create a dedicated page.

Supporting the Channel ❤️

I create all my videos independently and without sponsors because I want the content to stay honest, useful, and focused on painting — not product promotion.

If you enjoy my videos and want to help support the channel, I have lots of merchandise available in my Fourthwall shop, including:

• 🎨 eBooks designed to help you improve your painting
• 🖼️ Original artwork
• 🖨️ Archival prints
• 👕 Apparel for artists and art-lovers

👉 Visit the shop at tis link.

Your support through the shop is what allows me to keep making free videos, tutorials, and painting demonstrations without needing brand deals or sponsored content. Thank you for helping me stay independent!

Why Paint Alla Prima?

Alla prima painting is one of the quickest ways to develop confidence and flow in your brushwork. Because the painting is completed in one sitting, you learn to:

• Make decisions quickly
• Avoid overthinking
• Work with fresh, lively paint
• Embrace imperfections
• Respond to shapes and colors with intuition

It’s not just a technique — it’s a mindset that helps build stronger habits for any style of painting.

Final Thoughts

Thanks for stopping by and checking out this painting demo! If you enjoy watching the process and want more art videos, tutorials, and behind-the-scenes content, make sure to subscribe on YouTube and check back here for new posts.

And again — thank you so much for supporting my work through the shop. It truly makes a difference. ❤️