Start as always with an underpainting of yellow and white and then block in some sky with cobalt and white. Continue reading
Paint Along Class, Winter 2018, 2/22/18 – 3/22/18, ” Webb Farm House at Longwood”
As always we began with an underpainting and for this one we used a bright yellow and white stain. Then we mapped in the horizon and the different plains of land in the distance. In class we went over perspective drawing and some drawing basics. Then we added the sky with cobalt and white gradiating dark to light from top to bottom of the sky to create distance.
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Paint Along Class, Winter 2018, 1/11/18-2/15/18, “Somerville Manning Waterfall”,
Start with an underpainting of burnt sienna and a little white and stain the entire canvas. Mark your horizon line where water meets land and mark where the water begins after the triangular sliver of snow on the waters surface. Now lay in the mid tone of indigo blue (adding white and raw umber to create the color. The just add raw umber to the blue for the dark parts of the water. At the top begin adding in some white in the areas of snow in the background trees.
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Paint Along Class- Fall 11/2/17-12-7-17 “Bellevue State Park”
Start with an underpainting to show the light amongst the trees and a base color for the water and sky. Use lemon yellow and white for the yellow base and cerulean blue and white for the sky and water underpainting.
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The Story of the Creation of the oil painting”The Annunciation”
The Annunciation, Oil
by Annette Pozzuolo-Alessi
“The Annunciation” is one of the most painted religious icons in the history of the Catholic church. “The Annunciation” portrays the biblical story in which the Angel Gabriel came to Mary and said to her: “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found grace with God. Behold, you shall conceive in your womb, and you shall bear a son, and you shall call his name: JESUS” (Luke 1:30-32).
“Sometime around 2011, I was inspired to paint my own rendition of “The Annunciation”. At this time, I had not known the amount of times it had already been painted. The inspiration was sparked by a feeling I experienced during a yoga session during that year. I had a clear visual of the painting – a profound, heartfelt emotion directed at the heart of Mary, with a beam of light and a stone window, which made me feel like it was somewhat dated.
When doing portraiture type work, I prefer to work from a model. I needed just the right person to be able to portray this feeling that I had. Searching for about a year trying to figure out who would be the perfect model for this most spiritual expression of love, I found no one. In prayer, I asked God to find someone whom I could use to portray this perfect emotion. Putting the vision aside, I forgot about it for a few years.
When my boys were younger, we made sure that during Christmas and Easter we would always take a picture of our family in front of the church’s altar. There was another family who did the same thing, and we would swap cameras to get the entire family in the shot. One day in the summer of 2014, I saw the family and noticed how big their children got. It amazed me how time changes people. As the family returned from receiving the Eucharist, I watched them return to their pews and noticed their one daughter and how reverent she was, and how she was folding her hands. All of a sudden, in an instant, I heard the words, “She’s the one”! I had chills running up and down my spine! I couldn’t believe it. She was the one to use for the Annunciation painting. She was perfect! The unexpectedness of the situation amazed me. The model for the Annunciation painting that I had completely forgotten about, God had sent her to me Himself!
Two months later, I was able to approach the family after church to discuss with them my painting and the instant inspiration I was given in church earlier that summer. Being in church alone that day, I looked over and saw the family. I heard the words, “Now is the time”. I approached the family after mass. As I was explaining to the mother my idea and wishes to use her daughter to model for me, the young girls face lit up! After agreeing to the idea, I finally realized that I did not even know their names after all these years! When I asked what their daughter’s name was, they replied, “Natalie”. To my astonishment, her name in Italian means “The Nativity” or “The Birth of Christ”! She also happened to be 12 years old, around the age that Mary was when she was asked to be the Mother of God.
The model’s sister, Emily, mentioned that I should add a white dove in the painting. Even though that was not in my original vision, I took her advice. I felt that it would complete the piece, since the white dove represents the Holy Spirit.
There have been many more mysteries that occurred during the creation of this painting regarding the clothing, the location, and the October 13th date of the photo shoot for use of reference. October 13th was a significant date during this painting creation, as well as a very significant date in the history of Our Lady of Fatima and the Catholic church. This was the date when the Divine Mother Mary appeared to three Shepard children in Fatima, Portugal in 1917. Mary appeared to the children on the 13th of each month from May to October 1917, giving the children messages for the world.
All these mysteries I strongly believe were a divine intervention in the creation of this painting. I also believe that there is a strong message that will be given to mankind through this painting. Whatever the message may be, I can only hope it will be received well.”
– Annette Pozzuolo-Alessi © September 2015
To learn more about the Divine Mother Mary through Our Lady of Fatima, read about it on this website:
Paint Along Class- FALL 9/14/17-10/19/17 “Bermuda Sunset”
We started today with an underpainting that is with blocked in color beginning with the lemon yellow. Top left is a mix of cobalt, purple and raw umber.
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Paint Along- Spring 3/30/17- 5/11/17- “Orange Tulip”
4 27/17. Begin by working from the back petal to front. Do one petal at a time. Start by covering the whole petal with lemon yellow. Make sure to use a filbert brush to create your edges of the petal so it cleanly overlaps the background. Then use a bristle brush with cadmium red and stroke the brush from top to bottom over the petal. You will see the colors blend and turn into the orange. Let the brushes bristles create the ridges in the petal and follow the movement of the petal.
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“Serenity”- Private Collection, The Tucker Family
“Serenity:
I found the painting Serenity in a little boutique roughly 2 years ago while strolling the streets of West Chester. It was a chilly January day and I had just left a baby shower and had some time to stroll alone. The baby shower provided a much needed break in my daily routine and allowed me to talk with other adult women. Women who understood the demands of motherhood and women who defined balance and wisdom. Continue reading
How I met Karl J Kuerner III
pastel painted plein air, 18 x 24″, Annette Alessi
Karl J Kuerner III is a well-known artist, a driving force in American Realism, who was mentored by Andrew Wyeth and studied with Caroline Wyeth. He is widely regarded as one of the three major living Brandywine Valley artists. He and his father Karl Kuerner Jr. own the Ring Farm on Ring Road off of Route 1 in Chadds Ford, PA. Andrew Wyeth quoted in Karl’s book, All in a Day’s Work, “My sister, Carolyn, and I always emphasized that an artist must paint what he loves; and Karl has done just that.”- Andrew Wyeth. Karl Kuerner’s site.
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Pastel Painting of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, by Annette Pozzuolo, 1985
This painting is a piece that I painted in 1985 of the “Sacred Heart”! You ask, what it the Sacred Heart? Have you ever loved someone so much that you would do Anything for them? Anything? Well, that’s just what the image represents, Pure Love, to the point of death. It symbolizes the pierced heart of Jesus in sadness for our separation from Him. Continue reading
Follow Your Heart… A story of an artist’s life journey.
“Waiting to Dine”, pastel, 22 x 18″, This is the first painting of the series called The History of Fashion form the 1920’s that began my career as a fine artist.
Everyone wants to plan out their life and accomplish great achievements – I know because I am one of them. But throughout my artistic career, I have been constantly reminded that if you just do what you love, great things will happen.
To introduce myself, today, I am a professional fine artist and instructor. I started this journey as a fashion illustrator in the late 1980’s growing and increasing skills through illustration, graphic design,and art direction just to name a few. All of these opportunities came from my passion for the arts and the love of talking to people – one thing lead to the other. I always seemed to be at the right place at the right time. Or was it just because I was doing what I love?
