Beginning Figure painting
I have had many people ask me how to begin figure painting. The first step is to understand how to draw the figure, the anatomy of the figure and of course to have a basic understanding of color ( read my color tutorial for help).
Once the student has acquired a good foundation in drawing the figure from life ( not photos because they tend to distort the figure, lose most of the subtle color information you need in painting, and flatten the shadows), you can start to explore figure painting. I believe in a limited palette approach until a student has a firm grasp of color and how to mix it. For a medium I recommend Liquin to students as it is easy to use and is a great beginners medium. Get some filbert natural bristle brushes, turpenoid, cadmium red, yellow ochre, ultramarine blue, burnt sienna, burnt umber, ivory black and titanium white to get started.
Some tips, I go to home depot and buy an empty paint can and a plastic PVC pipe about 2 inches long and a grate that fits into the end. Drop the PVC pipe and grate into the bottom of the empty paint can and then use it for your turpenoid. It will hold an entire can and has a tight lid to make it easy to carry around without sloshing. You can scrub your brushes along the grate at the bottom and the pigment will loosen and fall to the bottom. I keep adding turpenoid for about six months when it starts to evaporate. When the can gets too filthy I take it to an auto repair shop and have them dump the turpenoid and then start over with a new can. Its not worth cleaning, trust me!
For a palette. I tend to prefer 1/4 glass, 18 x 24 with a sheet of toned grey or green paper ( mid value) taped to the bottom so that I can judge the color I mix against the value of my toned canvas. The glass you can have cut at an auto glass place and it will last you forever. To scrape off the old paint I use a retractable razor blade, paint scraper thing from home depot.
The first task is to get a feel for working with oil. I usually start students on a monochromatic painting on a toned canvas. This allows them to get used to blending the paint. I tone the canvas with burnt sienna and a lot of liqiun, wiping off most of the paint with a paper towel to get the canvas lightly toned. Let it dry. Start your drawing with a small filbert brush and burnt sienna mixed with burnt umber thinned with medium and/or a little turpenoid. You are looking to learn how to do an under-painting, blending values of a pigment similar to drawing. Feel free to use a rag or just a brush dipped in turpenoid to remove color if needed. The goal is to produce a nice monochromatic painting. Keep the paint very very thin, almost like watercolor by adding some turpenoid and some liquin. Use the biggest brush that you can to apply the color, I like to just hatch it in, using the side of the filbert, and then use a clean brush to blend it around.
Next lesson… using burnt sienna and burnt umber to create a fiery under-painting!
Til next time.
