Exercise: Linear Figure Study

In this exercise we are asked not to get too involved with close detailed drawings but to get the overall shape of the figure and its surroundings.

Based on the sketches I had done previously, I experimented with various techniques and colours including:

• Scraping back the paint
• Using water with a thick acrylic line to disperse the paint
• Spraying with water to allow lines to run
• Applying thick acrylic with a knife, wetting the knife and spreading the paint
• Limited colour palette
• Complementary colours

I also completed a basic oil sketch to see how the composition worked in colour.  From this, I decided to crop the view slightly to make the figure more dominant in the piece.  I also decided to paint the figure more upright as this would reduce the breadth of the back, which I felt would give a more interesting outline overall.

I decided that, although some of my first studies had potential, none of them grabbed me, so I did some research on Bridgeman and found some paintings I felt particularly embodied the linear style.  These were:

Sir William Coldstream – Seated Nude 1960

Amedeo Modigliani – Nude 1917

Albert Andre – Nude in the Drawing Room 1920

Marie Clementine Valadon – Nude Female Reclining 1922

Marie Clementine Valadon – The Two Bathers 1923

Peter Coker – Seated Nude 1951

Roder Ender – Nadia 1993

It was in this last painting that I found a style I felt would work well with this drawing.  The artist has painted a very dark tone (looks like black) all over the body and then applied varying thicknesses of paint over the top, leaving the edge of the dark paint as an outline.  The skin tones are very pale, almost white with a yellow tinge in some areas.

For the slight shadow detail, the artist has left wider areas of dark paint for lines, and applied the lighter colour more sparingly to allow the underpaint to show through.  He has applied the paint with loose brushstrokes, frequently directional to show the circular form of limbs.  Looking more closely, there are also blue tints in the painting but, because all the shades are tints of white, it just adds to the coolness of the painting.  The pale flesh tones over the dark underpainting also adds blue/grey tones to the painting.

I experimented with various colour combinations for the under / overpainting – I didn’t want the overpainting colour to merge optically with the underneath colour, so I tried black, ultramarine and Prussian blue.  I then overpainted these with two skin tones I had mixed using the primaries and white.

The ultramarine was just too bright and the blue really came through strongly, while I felt using black underpaint made the overall colour appear too grey so I decided to go with the Prussian blue.

As I knew I would be using the dark blue all over the figure, I sketched out my underpainting in acrylic (burnt umber) because I knew it would not affect the final painting.

When reasonably happy with my outlines, I filled in the background with a loose mix of burnt umber.  Once I had done this, and stepped back to take a broader view, I realised some areas were not quite right, so corrected these at these stage.  After this, I then painted out some of the wrong lines with white acrylic to stop myself getting confused, and to check the outlines again.

At this stage I covered all of the body (including the hair)with a dark wash of Prussian blue (just thin enough so I could see my underpainting lines on the stomach, arms, etc) and left to dry.

I mixed a very pale flesh tone using the primaries and white and began filling in the body colour.  As on Roder’s Nadia, I left a line around the body but, because I using brush strokes at 90° to the outline of the body, this line has variation in thickness which stops it looking like the body has been simply outlined.

I then blocked in the background in basic, fairly neutral colours before I started on the background properly.

At this stage, I realise that there are a few areas which need improvement:

The foot that is on the chair – the actual foot is OK but the leg behind the ankle is too acute an angle and needs changing.

The calf is too wide at the top and the background/under the curve of the thigh needs to be darker.

The colour on the back is wrong – even though I though I checked the Prussian blue was dry, it must not have been in this area and the colour has been picked up in the following layer.

So, next step is to repaint some areas in the dark blue to correct the errors, and then overpaint with the light skin tone.