Painting the Figure

"If Painting is painting, it is drawing. You do not stop drawing when you begin to paint, for painting is drawing. A study from the nude should be a study to comprehend the human body."—Robert Henri, The Art Spirit

This winter, ten students gathered weekly for a class on painting from the model. Eight weeks were divided into three weeks of portraiture and five weeks of working from the nude model.

In the first weeks, I found myself relishing setting up the lights, and interacting with our models, most of whom had never done such a thing before. We worked in twenty minute increments and I guided the students from pencil to watercolor. Some even worked in oil. Working from a model involves vital interaction for the artist to feel the tension, balance and even emotional content that the sitter possesses. To achieve that in such a short span with only a brush or pencil to describe these layers of the human condition seems daunting for anyone.

Most found that working against the clock was the biggest challenge. And some found that the results were not satisfactory. For me, the results are less important than the experience of drawing and painting from life. For me, responding to a model, on a surface with my brush is the ultimate privilege of experiencing a moment in time. Whether the model sits breathlessly still or moves slightly, I am engaged fully in the similarities between me, the model and the painting I am creating. Three in one, this trinity we call making art.