Alla Prima Study of a Bear in Motion, 16x20 inches oil on canvas panel by Kenney Mencher https://www.kenneymencher.com/shop/p/alla-prima-study-of-a-bear-in-motion-16x20-inches-oil-on-canvas-panel-by-kenney-mencher
For years I had trouble accepting my body as I aged. So I began to paint people who looked more like me and I realized I wasn’t alone when I discovered other bears and the concepts behind “body positivity.”
This painting is based in the tenets of the “body positivity” movement. Body positivity refers to the assertion that all people deserve to have a positive body image, regardless of how society and popular culture view ideal shape, size, and appearance.
Some of the goals of the body positivity movement include:
Challenging how society views the body
Promoting the acceptance of all bodies
Helping people build confidence and acceptance of their own bodies
Addressing unrealistic body standards
This painting was made using the alla prima method.
Alla prima is an Italian phrase that means 'at first attempt'. It refers to a wet-on-wet approach whereby wet paint is applied to previous layers of still-wet paint, often in a single sitting. Over the years, the technique has been adopted and adapted by artists from Van Gogh to Velázquez.
