While working on Assignment 5, the series of five paintings, I made a pause to research for a more ‘watercolour style’ approach to figure drawing. To gain a quick first impression, I did a Google image search which came up with several interesting leads I could follow up. None of the hits were by more widely known artists, but nevertheless they helped me forming ideas how to tackle my task differently. Of the many I saw, I selected works from three artists that came close to the qualities I wanted to have in my watercolour painting.

This nude by Charlene Thomforder (Rose I, 2008) appealed to me for the interplay of delicate, expressive lines and the subtle watercolour washes.

I like how she uses fairly light washes to differenciate between figure and ground: The white paper is left for the highlights of the right shoulder, where the wash denotes the background tones. By contrast, the lower part of the body is indicated through coloured shadows, and the background is just white paper.

The two watercolour figures by Christina Havens (2011) convey a more impressionistic, soft overall impression. The background and the linework are more integrated with the figure, which is a consequence of using watercolour pencils which dissolve when water is applied, as opposed to using pen and ink for lines.

The nude by Steve Fleming reminded me of Egon Schiele’s expressionist line qualities. On his website, Steve Fleming’s watercolour figures show his development from a conventional to a much looser and expressionist approach. I find this one very appealing for its focus on the essential elements of the pose – the head resting on the arms, and the bent body. There were more on the website with darker colours as well, which I liked a lot.

References

Charlene Thomforder: Watercolourways blog
Kristina Havens: Watercolour drawings from the live model
Steve Fleming: Alternative approaches to the figure