Beach Painting #2

I had yet another blast painting this scene of kids in the surf. Class was such a charge that I don't know how I'm going to fall asleep and I have to wake up in 5 hours. Yet, here I am posting to my blog instead. This is a painting of a friend's nieces. It was fun to paint a full standing figure. I had to use a larger canvas (16 x 20) compared to the previous painting because of the standing pose and that was definitely a good decision. It took me two (albeit quick) tries before I was able to get the whole figure on the canvas with enough atmosphere to allow the viewer to "travel into the painting"--well at least I hope so.

Once again I used the process I learned at Studio Incaminati many years ago to start with an armature (stick figure and block for a head) and then paint the flesh on top of it--kind of like sculpting. That approach and 8 hours of 1-2 minute poses for two weeks cured me of any apprehension in painting figures and painting them fast. While doing the armature, I compare measurements to each other--not in any precise way--just checking to see where the top of the infant's head hits the head of the teenager, or where the infant's leg hits the teenager's leg, what is the angle of arms and legs and how they relate to one another. It is truly all relative. I might have to take a picture of this stage if I can remember to do so--because it is truly the best way to figure paint.

One of the trickiest parts is getting the size, length and angle of the legs right so they are not out of proportion with the head or arms. I know this is all gobbly gook if you are not a realistic artist, but its one of those things that took me a few good classes (e.g. kick in the pants) to measure how far the knee extends beyond the head (at least in this case). You get that distance wrong and your legs will appear too short (usually) or too long. Anyway, that was probably the biggest area of reworking throughout the night and I still think the knee needs more definition. I'm going to let it dry first however before I mess with it. Okay one quick thing before I go to bed. The waves are huge haphazard brush strokes. I like them now but I think I'm going to tone them down in case I disagree tomorrow. I can always add that texture back, but can't take it away.

PS: Mystery of the night: How does blogger know to rotate a photo when you have taken a sideways shot? Brilliant.