Colleen Barry NYC Artist
patreon
Making Studies
🕑 Added 2025-09-23 17:39:39 +0000 UTCA little bit about making oil studies. Why I use them and what they’re good for:
They’re small, usually quick to make, not intimidating in scale.
Exploratory and curious, because they don’t take long, the handling is more free and arbitrary, which often leads to surprising discoveries.
Useful digitally, I often import studies into Procreate or Photoshop to use as a backdrop for references or compositional play.
Collectible - their small size, painterly nature, and affordability make them appealing and easy to sell.
Contextual in exhibitions - when shown alongside larger finished works, they act as charming embellishments that reveal process and development.
Comments
colleen barry
It’s super relative, of course-but I would say three hours yes over a few days Max 9 to 15 hours compared to a larger work that could take 60 to 8 hours
Yap
When you say fast, how fast do you work? 3hours or few days? are they done alla prima or do you have layers even in the smaller pieces?
