Mar 28, 2008

figure painting

monumental first step.. first figure painting in color! saturday 3/22





6 comments:

Allison said...

OH. that's lovely.

Unknown said...

Wonderful posts so far!

So hey, got your wabsite from Grax an dig it.

What's been your approach with alla prima? Something I've been wanting to step into more also. Were these glasses guided or more self-discovery?

I think in my head I'd want to start out just black&white. It's been a while since I did any life painting. Hrmm...

Laura Dubuk said...

hey Hofer,

thanks!

my approach is kind of sloppy since i haven't been oil painting very long. i found 2 techniques: one is sketch out the composition and basic values, then mix each brushtroke and sort of put those blobs on the paper/canvas (for this one). the other one is put down a few markers (like for life drawing) and then mix three colors at the same time to get the general palette, then apply them as big fuzzy spots. then smaller and smaller spots.

i took painting classes as i felt i should take em, so it was self-guided with choosing my teachers. i started taking classes after i went to random workshops (Jeremy Lipking etc) and wanted to commit to it..

but learned how to draw first, and learn value and composition. i didn't let myself learn oil til i learned these basics..

also did lots of digital painting too, learned to use color from my teachers at work, and then, when i took an oil class, i learned to mix colors and use brushes.

so yeah in a way it's good to learn black and white, but it's cheaper and easier to learn it with pencil/charcoal first! oil has a lot of allure and it teaches you a lot about color, but digital is also a great learning tool if you're focused and know what you need to learn!

Unknown said...

Excellent.

I seemed to muddy up my paintings quickly in alla prima. Do you spend a pinch before you put your next stroke down to see if it's near the current color on the canvas? Or just go at it?

How long have the poses been for this smaller(?) studies?

Laura Dubuk said...

ya, with the blob technique i spend a bit of time mixing/checking the paint before it goes on the canvas.
most of the figure paintings are 3 hour poses

Unknown said...

I'm so impatient with mixing and checking. I'm certain this is why I get muddy.

Thanks for the insight! Looking forward to more posts.