Life Classes Studies

Model (Night)

(Study 73 x 60.5 Cm) Oil on Canvas

This year I did a number of life class studies.

It let me reflect on my work, and I had some realizations. One was that although I also enjoy observing and drawing the form or curvature of a person in my work, I am often even more interested in their actions, behaviors or thinking, in other words the social being or personality of the person, and trying to express that in my work.

It’s not as if a person is just one color, (loads of colors seem visible in a certain light) but in the life classes, I often found myself coming back to the issue of which colors to go with.

In the study above I just aimed to make the colors of the person and background contrast each other whilst maintaining balance between the two.

Model (Night) II

(Study　91 x 73 Cm) Oil on Canvas

The body of the subject creates a variety of curves and lines, and so does your hand as it paints.

Some of these lines are illusions or impressions on the eye as it moves. Some lines are a result of the momentum of the arm as it paints, and others are created as paint material moves in and around the bumps and grooves of the support.

In this second study I tried to focus on bringing out these lines, but in the end it didn’t become a painting of lines, more a painting with lines.

Model (Night) III

(Study　100 x 80 Cm) Oil on Panel

I love ink lines in Japanese painting, so in the last study, Model (Night) II, I was trying to express lines as black. In doing this however I also found that black lines, although cool, also create fairly clear divisions between coloured areas of a painting. In this third study I tried using more vibrant colours, and, to create a more fluid and organic feel, I tried inserting coloured lines.