Though this fun little painting is all about the sky, I had the option of making up the landmass as a simple tree line and maybe some rocks in the foreground. The initial inspiration for the scene came from a parking lot, however, so I went ahead and added the cars and figures. The simple shapes added so much life to the painting.
By Hema Gupta
Although I never went to any classes, I drew a lot as a child. One book was particularly influential — “Learn About Drawing” from the Ladybird Book series. Chockfull of useful tips and information, it taught me that the head and torso make up half of the human body, and the legs, the other half. Size-wise, the head goes into the body about seven and half times, and a man’s shoulders are wider than a woman’s.
Painted during the Gloucester Plein Air Invitational, this piece did not originally include a figure. As I worked, I chatted to a man who told me he’d recently purchased the boat and planned to do some work on it. As he ascended the ladder, his form contrasted strikingly against the bright sky. In an instant, I decided to add him to the painting.
Here are a few more tips for drawing and painting figures I picked up along the way that can help you make better people shapes in your own work.
- Start with a stick figure and add more structure once you’ve captured the gesture correctly (see the practice sketches I did for the step-by-step demonstration).
- Judge the size of your figures by comparing them to other elements in the scene; for example, a figure near a house should not be so large that it cannot fit through the door.
- Perspective is equally important. When adding several figures, say in a street scene, ensure that the heads of all the figures are at the same level, but make those in the distance smaller compared to the ones closer to you. As long as the heads and shoulders are placed at the right position and are the right size, they will look believable, even if the rest of the bodies and legs are not explicitly defined. A couple of quick drybrush strokes for the legs are often enough to indicate movement.
- To integrate a figure seamlessly into a scene, paint wet-into-wet as much as possible, allowing some color from the surroundings to run into the figure. Keeping some of the edges soft also helps to avoid a pasted-on look. Adding a touch of white highlight to the heads and shoulders makes figures pop, especially when painting them as silhouettes against the light.
- Practice making figures directly with a brush and paint, without any drawing. As you get more confident with your drawing, the direct approach will become easier, and the figures will look more fresh and loose.
- Study the work of other painters you admire. It can inspire new ideas on how to incorporate figures into your own plein air paintings.
I strongly contrasted the two figures on the right against the lighter background to balance out the dark mass of the van near the center of the painting. Notice how I barely defined their legs. By adding the shadows on the ground, I allowed the viewer’s mind to complete the image of two walking figures.
Landscapes made livelier with figures will always have an appeal with viewers. All it takes to make your work stand out is a little practice.
Stay tuned for a step-by-step demo of Hema Gupta’s figure painting process in Thursday’s newsletter.
