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M0AI — Figure 8
Published: 2009-11-15 05:42:30 +0000 UTC; Views: 3654; Favourites: 59; Downloads: 156
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The same model as [link] . She was one of the two prettiest models I've ever worked from.This was another two day painting. For the first day, we used a complement set of our choice; I picked orange and blue. The next day we had pretty much a full palette. I really like the color variety I achieved around her knees and lower legs. Unfortunately, the surface of that area of the painting really likes to capture glare, so it's not as visible as it could be. Her right knee, my favorite part of the painting, is visible, though, so that's okay.
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Comments: 35
The fact that it captures the light so well is a big selling point for me. I love this. Very nice work and well worth the effort.
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If you don't mind my asking, how did you mix those colors? what specifically did you use to acheive such lovely flesh tones? I'm studying figure painting now myself and I can't seem to get as nice of a range.
is this acrylic, or oil?
you are awesome
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I don't mind you asking at all! The class in which I painted this was specifically about color mixing and theory and how to apply it to figure painting, so I actually have a fairly detailed answer for this.
So, my palette is: titanium white, burnt sienna, cadmium orange, cobalt blue (or ultramarine, but I think it was cobalt), cadmium red medium, and sap green, with perhaps some yellow ochre and a violet of some sort.
This is oil.
I began just by drawing and filling in the masses with very thin burnt sienna. I then squeeze out some cadmium orange and cobalt blue, and mix a series of neutrals between them, ranging from slightly dulled blue to slightly dulled orange. I typically mix about five intermediate colors between them. Then, using the white, I mix out value steps for each. So, I have five different base colors, and five different tints of each of those colors. It's laborious and time consuming, but I have all of my basic colors there that I'll need. So, I basically then just lay down the figure in chunks of color, some chunks warmer and some chunks cooler. Once that is done, I add variety with some subtle greens and reds mixed in, though not very extensively here. I'm pretty sure I also used some yellow ochre here too, and maybe even some violet, but I don't remember exactly.
Thanks so much for the interest! I hope my answer helps.
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That helped a TONNE, thank you so so much for the detailed response! It is very much appreciated, and once again, I adore your figures.
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very good painting.
not overworked, things all in the right places, nice mix of marks, I love it.
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Thanks, man! I was in the right mood to paint this day.
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This is probably my favorite of the three most recent figure paintings, due in no small part to the attractiveness of the model! Hard for any red-blooded male to get past that bias, I guess.
In all seriousness, though, it feels to me like the most "complete" of this series, for some reason...Maybe the pose, the fact that the entire front of model is visible, has something to do with that. I especially like those red tones of the knees and ankles, and the highlight along the calf/shin boundary on (our) left. Great modelling of the knees in general--you really captured the subtle complexity of the underlying bone and muscle here, an anatomical feature I've always found very difficult to depict accurately. Nice work!
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Thank you very much, Tom!
That highlight that you mentioned on the chin is actually an artifact of the texture of that particular part of the canvas. It's actually very similar in value to the rest of the painting, but that particular surface loves to capture light, and is pretty much impossible to photograph without some glare. I'm glad it works this way as well, though.
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Bob Ross would call it a "happy little accident"!
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Nice one! The concentration of light and skin tones are excellent.
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Thank you, Rob! That means a lot, coming from you.
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Ode to a Patella...
This is beautiful Moai! The work with the orange and blue really shows through.
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Haha, thanks!
I think the color scheme I used for this is a great way to work. I began with just orange and blue (and white), which is a very naturalistic combo for skin tones, and matched what was actually happening on the model fairly well. Once you get to a certain point with those colors, then you add some variety with touches of yellow, violet, red, and green. It's a lot more controlled, and it turned out better, I think, than the later paintings I did, in which I used every darn color of the rainbow.
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Well they say that art works best when it is limited. Makes you all creative.
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damn... I see improvement in each painting. I want to be in your class...
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I remember often being surprised at how purple the knee and feet area can be. A lot of blood down there.
Nice studies.
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There were certainly a lot of purples and pinks to see here.
Thanks!
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You did well on the hips. They always seem to give me a hard time, no matter if its a male or female subject.
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Thank you!
Hips are definitely tough. The bones of the pelvis are very complex and odd-looking, and hard to discern on the model because they're buried under many layers of muscle, and often fat as well. The pelvis is one of the most crucial areas of the body, though, so keep studying!
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Indeed. Also making sure you get the shoulder to hips ratio right or your subject if its male and female. I can usually get the height proportions right though. You however did a great job here. Not to mention your highlights and shading look spot on. I should really post more of my life drawing from school.
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sweet knees & shins! 
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Ah, a fellow connoisseur!
Thanks!
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yeah she looks like a hottie! lucky..my models in school were always creepy old men or hippie chicks.
nice job. love the colors her skin is great.
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Thank you, Konjur! I have been really lucky; many of the figure painting models have been quite attractive. More talent to choose from in a large city, I guess.
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