A collection of small figure drawings in pencil and paint

‘Nude Study’. Oil on paper

I don’t have very much to add by way of comment on these little exercises. The painted figure is the first I’ve tried on the Arches oil paper that I have enjoyed using with still life subjects. Whilst I like some of the colour mixes in the halftones, I didn’t feel able to achieve a sense of luminosity to the flesh. I’m not sure why, but I think there is something about how the paper absorbs the paint that affects this.

The little drawings are from an occasional life class where we stick to short gesture poses. As I usually work on long poses, I find these quick studies incredibly difficult to do. They require a different approach – deciding what to prioritise; trusting your eye to find proportion, instead of careful comparison measurements. I get incredibly frustrated during these sessions, but I recognise their tremendous value in helping to develop skills in seeing.