ONLINE ART COURSE – COMPLETING THE FIGURES MODULE

As always, the final project of the module was the self-directed challenge. Phil, our teacher, reckons that we have learnt enough in the previous three projects to go it alone and put what we have learnt into practice without him holding our hands.

This time there were two reference photos to choose from. They were both delightful. One was of an elderly couple on the beach, pointing out to sea. This was a pretty complex image with a lot going on in the background, and faces to deal with as well. I decided to go for the other one which was simpler – a charming picture of a mother and her little daughter, looking as if they were returning home after a day at the beach. Back views, so no faces to worry about! I love the chubby figure of the little girl, especially under her arms above the top of her dress, and the tall elegance of the mother. There’s a definite air of “homeward bound” and a peaceful fatigue in both figures, after a happy day at the seaside. That’s how I see it, anyway.

This may have been the simpler drawing of the two, but I really struggled with the proportions on this one. It involved a lot of erasing! I spent far longer on the initial drawing than on the painting. In the end I was happy with it.

I was delighted that my hubby decided to draw this one with me. He has not had the benefit of the previous tuition, of course, and he opted for a traced outline to begin with. No shame in that; sometimes it’s useful, especially if time is short, or absolute accuracy is called for. I chose to practice the method Phil taught us, of drawing by observation and the use of a measuring stick to get the proportions right. My hubby was unable to complete his painting today because he had to go out at tea time but he will finish it in the next two or three days.

I was able to complete mine in one day, with a break around tea time.

This is a pen and watercolour picture. We were told we could use any medium we chose, but I particularly like this one, and thought it would work well with the subject. I really enjoyed mixing the skin tones from a combination of three primary colours – yellow, permanent rose, and ultramarine. These colours are amazing together, and according to their proportions, you can achieve different skin tones, many beiges and greys both warm and cool, and browns. I enjoyed painting the shadows on the figures’ skin, deepening them with a little purple, as well as just laying down more layers.

In the reference photo, the hair of both figures was solid black, but I painted them first with Payne’s Grey, and then gradually darkened them with black, leaving some variation, which I felt looked more lifelike. The mother’s dress was navy with tiny white polka dots. Obviously I couldn’t draw every one, and I just drew a few random ones, stippling them on with a fine tipped white acrylic marker and immediately dabbing them off with a damp tissue to prevent them looking too stark. It was impossible to lay them all out in the regular pattern of the photo but I think I achieved an impression of the fabric.

There was some foreshortening in this picture, especially of the feet, which were quite difficult to draw. I was in two minds about whether to paint the background; some people on the forum left it out and it was very effective. In the end I decided to add it with a series of washes. It’s amazing when you really start to look at the reference – you notice things that you didn’t see initially. I wasn’t aware until I started painting it that the background was actually quite pink at the bottom, and that there was a faint streak up the middle of the path. The path was more grey than the surroundings. I used the same three-colour mix for the entire background, and achieved the different hues by altering the proportions of the colours. I did add a little brown to emphasise some of the texture in the backgorund at the end. There is minimal pen work in this picture; the watercolour did most of the work.

Another module completed! It is amazing to think there are only two modules left, and then the course will be over. The next module is portraits, which should be interesting. Looking at other people’s work on the forum, I am not sure that I particularly like the references that have been chosen for us, but I have had this feeling before, and then been pleasantly surprised just how much I have enjoyed working on them. It’s going to be an interesting challenge, anyway.