Painting People in Watercolor

Painting People in Watercolor can be roughly divided into two parts.

Incidental Figures have a fresh impressionistic look to them.

• Photorealistic Portraits are a fairly tight look sometimes.

We are going to discuss Painting Peole in Watercolor in two sections.

Many years ago my parents attended my first drawing exhibition, my age would be 4 - 6 years the best I can recall. I was showing a collection of drawings of my Mom & Dad.

After the teacher, parent introduction, the teacher was very kind to me, she said this to my parents:  

"Mr. & Mrs.......I would have recognized you both anywhere."

Part  1......... Painting People in Watercolor.......Incidental Figures.

They create story telling without all the details, capturing the mood, the motion, creating feelings about the subject matter.

A viewer identifies with figures in a painting, the eye is drawn to them.

Lets be frank, are we afraid to add them into our work because attempts have wound up as stick people or goblins.

You might also feel insecure about anatomy.

Lets go over a few items before we start.

Height (head to toe) = Seven heads

Width of shoulders = three head widths

Half Body Height = Leg Length

Arms Hanging Freely = Half Way Down the Thigh

The above chart was for a grown adult but of course it varies, but it's a good general guide.

You can't avoid painting people for ever, can you?
Yes you put in cows, sheep, boats, roadways, houses, must not forget barns, oh my!! how many paintings with barns and more barns have you ever seen?
Anything that allows you to dodge the DREADED PEOPLE PAINTING.

Painting the human figure may seem intimidating; why, because you will be concerned about getting the anatomy (yes I know), but Jim you might say I never studied even Anatomy 101.

But, it seems to me there is always a "BUT", if you can ignore those concerns of yours and learn to look upon the figure as you would any other subject - as a group or set of shapes, values, texture,colors, light and shadows.

You are over halfway to overcoming your dreaded concerns.

You surely will discover that, viewed as a design problem, painting a human being becomes much simpler. AND THAT'S WHAT YOU REALLY WANT,IS'NT IT.

Just like any other phase of painting, keen observation is the key.

Learn to really "SEE" the world around you, instead of just "LOOKING".

See the different colors in that tree, that flower, that wall etc.

Look at it this way...
Figures add interest
Figures provide focus
Figures communicate
Figures create a mood

They are easy to paint if you follow along with me.

In practicing More Ideas on Painting People in Watercolor avoid painting features, unless you are doing an illustration or portraits.

How about using the white of the paper for a dress or shirt etc, in other words paint around the person leaving the white of the paper, this works great if a person is standing in a dark doorway.

Generally, clothing needs to be brighter than other area of the painting.

Please, relate the size of the figure to its surroundings, doors, windows etc.

Dress them up, hair,stripes on clothing, aprons, what are they carrying etc.

Note: in More Ideas on Painting People In Watercolor that the feet disappear into the shadows under each figure.

You are going to have the best results if you have figures that just walk, stand still, stoop or have conversation with each other.  Avoid action figures if possible jumping, running etc.

Vary the size, shape, position and tone.

Make them short, make them tall, make them skinny (yes skinny, there are still some around that way).
Nature is infinite in her variety so try to avoid repetition.

There are some other ideas on following pages but for the time being More Ideas on Painting People in Watercolor is completed until.....I am going to join the group below and have a drink with them - not necessarily alcohol.

HOW TO PAINT FIGURES IN WATERCOLOR

How to Paint Figures in Watercolor successfully will depend on you studying your mistakes.

If you start worrying about what type of figure to paint, what their arms, legs, are doing, what action will be involved it can be very frustratingso lets take ANOTHER APPROACH.

Simply make a few marks and let the marks "suggest" what the figure is doing.

Don't say "this figure is doing such and such.

Say this

This shape "makes me think" of a figure doing  -  this or that.

The basic difference is your attitude, your wording of the phrases, will make the painting of figures much more fun. When I'm in class, this is where the giggles start.

Creating fun figures the easy way.

Practice How To Paint Figures in Watercolor before you paint on your actual Watercolor Painting.

Drag the brush downward making this mark in one stroke.

Here is another top of two torso's

Gravity comes into play you must put the legs under the body to support it, if the body goes to the left make sure the legs are there to support it and it won't topple over.
Painted with the side of the brush, now paint the legs and/or skirt..

Now we have added arms and legs and the head, keep this in mind we are painting adults, the head 1/7th of the total height.

Study the marks you made and sometimes they will be coming or going away from you and paint accordingly.

So basically we are finished, we have made a mark for the upper torso, made a mark for the lower body parts, legs pants or skirt then decided whether they are going or coming, then put the head on. How To Paint Figures in Watercolor is fun.

Here is a full figure.

More ideas on figures to come.

USING ACETATE IN FIGURES

Watercolor Acetate is a product that allows you to paint on the surface without beading up (specially treated acetate).
It actually allows you to paint on the surface, place it on the painting and lets you see what it will look like in the finished result without touching the painting.

Suppose you decide to paint a figure on an existing painting, Using Acetate Figures is the way to go and you can move the sheet of acetate on the painting to select the spot for the figure.

Once the decision is made for the best spot you can paint the figure right into the scene using the acetate version as a guide. It is easy placing a dark figure over a light background.

But light figures over a dark background are just a wee bit harder.
This is the way I do it..... I take a tissue roughly torn and crumpled in the approximate shape of the figure or figures and place it under the acetate where I have decided to have the figures placed.

You are now going to paint on the acetate, painting the background colors around the figures,the end result will be a white figure (that is the torn and crumpled tissue). In other words you have painted a negative shape around the positive shape that is the (figure). Now remove the tissue from under the acetate.

Now lets see what you have! You have the background painted around a figure, we are still on the acetate. By observation you can see the area on the painting that has to be removed, when this is completed, dry it, now paint the background around the figure and you have a completed the project.

Now you can see it might not be a bad idea to anticipate where the figures are going and leave ghost like areas, no hard edges.

These ghosts can be easily modified into a figure by reshaping the background a bit and adding convincing details.

Warning: Dont use masking fluid for the figures, it totally restricts the shape and the hard line may be difficult to overcome when reshaping the background,Using Acetate in Figures is the way to go.
It's a lot easier for me to place the figure into the ghost shape and match the background up to the figure.

Here are some further ideas about Semi Photorealistic figures in Painting People in Watercolor.

These people or figures will be a little more defined than the last section which was Incidental Figures.The above two charming ladies are Semi Photorealistic Figures.

In Incidental Figures we just "put down" a mark with the brush not thinking this figure will be doing this or that. Then with the same thought the lower body mark was "put down".

Only then did you ask yourself what is this figure doing, are they coming or going, sometimes I personally feel that way, how about you?

Now in this section a little more planning is going to take place.

That being said this is not about how to paint tight photorealistic portraits in watercolor. But this is about painting people that focus on fresh impressionistic way of depicting a Semi Photorealistic figure.

Consequently an intensive study of human anatomy will NOT be presented here in Semi Photorealistic Figures.

Just some Basic Figure Proportions.

Adult Figures.....Semi Photorealistic Figure.

Lets use the head as our "measuring stick" so to speak. Compare the size of the head to all other parts of the body.

Just having fun

The average height of an Adult is between 7 and 8 heads top to bottom.

The crotch is generally falls half way between head to toe.
Sholders, on a male - three heads wide.
Sholders on the fair sex  - two heads wide.
Arm hanging straight down the tips of the fingers will be just over half the body height.

Children.....Semi Photorealistic Figure.

Age four years about five heads high, legs about two heads.
Age eight about six heads height, legs two and one half heads.
From the age of six onward the mid point of their height is important. This mid point is almost at the hip line. This will help you to draw the figure if you know where the mid point should be. This keeps you from getting the torso too long and the legs too short, a very common error. Now you will not do that, will you.

All this proportion stuff is making my head spin, lets move on.

From a composition stand point,Semi Photorealistic Figures in Watercolor, can spice up a lack luster area in the painting or generate focal area.

You better pay attention to what he is saying.

Of course as the Semi Photorealistic Figure moves into the foreground getting closer to the viewer, you will need to add more details.
You may need to use more strokes of color to show the light side and shadow side of each body, and to show hair, face and clothing.

If you place a figure as the center of interest, you will need to think about techniques of value and color to bring out the three dimensional look.
When you think about it figures are just patterns of light and shadow. This one diagram shows you in a linear form where the lights and darks will go.

Preparing to paint a Semi Photorealistic Figure, first mentally think, light and shadow and separate them into two patterns. A strong light source left or right works great.

One of the better skills to master as an artist is being able to see the masses, in other words linking shapes together. Just like thinking of combining housework to make your work shorter and simpler. Form small objects or shapes together to make larger shapes.

Please note how all the shapes are tied together making this look lifelike.

This may be a little difficult to grasp for the first time.

So lets do this.

Practice "seeing" with a photograph or drawing, place a sheet of tracing paper over the top and you will see the shapes particularly if they are dark or shadows eliminating some of the details. A sheet of thin red colored red plastic works for me really great.

You will see the shapes linked together in the two illustrations below.

This shows the light and shadows and it separated them into two parts.

This is the actual painting.

How to stop a Semi Photorealistic Figure from looking "pasted on".

Hard edges are best used in the focal area, the area you want to have the greatest interest.
Leaving hard edges everywhere calls for the eye to look nowhere and everywhere all at once.
A tight confined look will not read true, why you might ask.......eyes don't see everything in sharp focus so soften some of the distant and exterior edges.

Losing edges is a way to open shapes to create a pathway for the eye to move smoothly through the painting. This keeps your Semi Photorealistic Figure from looking cut and pasted on.

Below is a painting by one of my students "Beatriz Uribe".

Please note, read the above few sentences again then study this painting.
Do you get it?
Do you see how they have been applied.
Anytime you are in Madrid, Spain, look her up.The photograph was taken after it was framed so you might see a reflection or two.
Take all the photographs before you frame the picture.

This is how we sold paintings before the internet came along.

Some of you that have joined Jims Free Club and want to sell paintings in the gallery section of this site the first rule is photograph before framing.

Maybe the goal for some of you to show and sell your artwork on this web gallery. The only two requirements are.......(1) You must be a member of Jims Free Club.......(2) The artwork must be fairly well produced. We may also have a section for up and coming new artists.

So long for now, see you in Flowers or Landscapes or whatever.

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