Painting the Nude Figure

I never took a painting course in college.  I made a lot of excuses. Space was limited, the only painting professor had a mediocre reputation, and there were numerous alternatives. But in reality I was afraid of getting my hands dirty. Drawing was in my wheelhouse. Painting was a little intimidating. I did eventually take a watercolor class at Cuesta Community College shortly after earning my degree, but it didn't get me where I wanted to go. Now I'm learning how to paint, mostly by reading books, and watching demonstrations by Richard Schmid and James Gurney. My friend Tony Weinstock has been kind enough to share with me his plein air techniques. Tony went to RISD which is a prestigious private art school and studied under Nathan Fowkes in person in L.A. 

The painting (below) is from life, completed in 3 hours "alla prima" using Cad Red Deep, Ultramarine Blue, Cad Yellow Medium, Mars Black and Titanium White. A bunch of colors that were given to me for free. Not necessarily my favorites, but I was able to mix some nice flesh tones from these primaries.

Below is an animated gif I made from photos taken at each 20 minute break.

This painting (below) was another 3 hour "alla prima" from life. I thought it would be cool to start with a Cerulean Blue ground, since the figure would be mostly warm by contrast. It was so bright, that about halfway through the session I freaked out and painted over it in Neutral gray, but that looked really bad. So I painted the Cerulean back in after the break. I like to include the background and the props. It feels more complete.