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Vantage Point: Step 5

Vantage Point

I apologize for the poor quality of this image. My camera, apparently, thought it was a little darker than I did when I took the picture. Even so, you can see that I have begun work on the dress. Sara actually picked this particular dress out for the model, and it is officially the first addition to a costume closet I have decided to begin compiling. It is a great outfit for drapery painting practice because of its simplicity and flattering cut: revealing just enough of the form. Of course, most clothing reveals at least a little, and figure painters are well aware of the fact. This is one reason nude figure drawing is considered to be an indispensable part of their training. Many classical painters would actually go so far as to complete detailed sketches of their entire composition with the figures un-clothed as a preparatory step to painting the final clothed version. I suspect this to be one of the reasons that a lot of drapery in classical paintings appears to be so thin and clingy. Few present-day painters can afford the time, let alone the modeling fees to be so thorough, (I certainly can’t) but it is still important to be aware that the body is what gives the dress its shape, and that a misplaced fold can result in an unnatural looking finished figure.

As it happens, I have the luxury of being ahead of the commentary with the actual progress of the painting. The images I had originally intended for the next step actually illustrate my point quite well, so I will include them here. (Thankfully they are of better quality than the first one.)

It is easy to see where the figure’s legs are and how they cross, even though they are covered. Also, the way the dress is draped over the wall helps to place the woman as comfortably seated there, and not standing somewhat uncomfortably next to it.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 27th, 2005 at 10:22 am and is filed under Vantage Point. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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About Bryan Larsen ~

Bryan Larsen

"I was born on February 12, 1975, and have been drawing as long as I can remember. By the time I was in high school, I knew I wanted to be an artist, although at the time I didn't have a clear idea of how exactly I would use my talents to make a living.

"As I continued studying art, I began to suspect that fine visual art was dead. No one seemed interested in teaching students how to draw well, or paint well. More often than not, my own skills exceeded those of my instructors.

"The only field left that seemed to require good drawing, painting, and compositional skills was illustration, and therefore I began studying illustration at Utah State University in Logan, Utah. I became even more convinced that I had made the right decision in staying away from fine art as I endured course after course of required "drawing" and "painting" classes in which instructors required me to draw with "less focus", or use ridiculous materials such as shellac, glue, sand, salt, etc.

"My second year at Utah State, I met Damon Denys. In discussing Art with him I realized that there were other people who believed that technique and subject matter were indispensable components of any work of art. I then decided that I would work to develop my own painting skills with the purpose of creating artwork that I considered worthy of being called Fine Art.

"Since that time, I have studied on my own: Drawing from live models to learn the human form, studying proper painting techniques from any source I could find ample reason to trust, and developing a philosophy of Art based on reason, and life on earth.

"My goal is to portray the heroic and romantic in human nature and human achievement in a realistic style and a modern setting. I place particular emphasis on composition, technique, realistic detail, proper craftsmanship and consistency of style."