Form and Figure

Knowing is not enough; we must apply.

Willing is not enough; we must do.

-Bruce Lee

Have you ever dreamed of learning something new from the best in class?

Me, too!

Last week, I took a figure and form painting workshop with Steve Early and Darren Kingsley. These two talented artists can certainly sling paint on a gessoboard or canvass. But what makes them exceptional is their ability to teach. Each of these guys are products of the vast knowledge of painting from their mentor, Nelson Shanks (co-funder of Studio Incamminati). And, they are part of the original crew who helped Nelson and Leona Shanks found the school.

I can’t really decide what I liked most about this class: the friendly banter between these two guys, their direct instruction at the canvas for each of us or their frank discussions about the work and discipline required to excel at this craft. Plus there were participants in this workshop from all over the world; from Dubai to India from Ohio to Italy. And, the high calibre of participants amped up everyone’s game, too.

The biggest learning from this week, continue to study anatomy. Both instructors talked about anatomy as they painted. This means each artist instructor spent two hours demonstrating for us each day, and they were able to show us their knowledge as they talked and painted. You can even see some of the ‘notes’ on my painting above. In particular, one instructor ‘drew’ the shape of the torso as well as the pectoralis major to help me with my understanding of this shape.

One great way to learn anatomy is to take one of your own paintings and cover it with tracing paper. Then draw the anatomy on the tracing paper over the painting. This is a bit of a ‘chicken or egg’ problem if you have no knowledge of anatomy at all (like me). So, here are three good books to help you learn anatomy: Atlas of Human Anatomy by Steven Rogers Peck (great beginner’s book), Human Anatomy for Artists by Elliot Goldfinger, and Constructive Anatomy by George Bridgeman. I found it helpful to take the last two books I have mentioned and copy the Bridgeman drawings while referring to the Goldfinger book for more details. I also plan to do some anatomy overlays.

There is another big thought I have after having finished this workshop; both of these artists have invested years of study, discipline and practice to become proficient at painting the human figure in oil painting. It inspires me to think of this as I reflect upon my relatively short amount of time (2 years of school) in this wonderful and challenging adventure.