Study of figure in the lily pond

“Study of figure in the lily pond” by Hilary J. England, 16” x20” oil on canvas

Figure Studies

My figure studies against or among different textures continues. This painting is rather larger than one of my usual “studies” — kind of a work in its own right, even if the intention wasn’t to make it a finished work, it sort of just happened. There were smaller grayscale studies, and my focus on this was the water, although in terms of design, the figure is still dominant, as the water leads you to her. She is center stage— literally, so she is the focal point, but for this Artwork it does work for me, even if she dominates the textures surrounding her.

The water, as it was choppy, was impossible not to stylize— but, that’s all par for course, since our own personal styles as artists always (and SHOULD) be visible in our works. We don’t create to make a voiceless photocopy, we create so that our voice and vision is also harmonious in our picture plane. I think this work balances that!

-Enjoy! 

Sunday Afternoon Figure Work

Study of Val, torso, and buttocks
Conte on Arches tinted paper
16" x 20

I always end up covered in my medium!

Sunday afternoons...
It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood, so I was able to rest and get some figure studies done.  I was able to do some preliminary sketches, and then a larger drawing, in Conte, on tinted Arches paper.  I've been working out some other compositions and studies for a few shows that I have coming up -- one, rather quickly, and I feel that I was still dragging "tail" a bit this month, and I'm not quite sure why.  I am in the capstone session of my Master's degree program, and that is a ton of work, so that could be why as well.

I really enjoy drawing, and decided it was important to focus the figure for the next several weeks while working out this composition for these new paintings.  I can't divulge what they are until the show curators give the go-ahead, so I will be quietly working on them until the appropriate time for them to be "unveiled" by the group.  Sounds very mysterious, but I assure you, on my end, it's not, haha.

So, I'll leave you with these photos of today's afternoon session.  And, I'm never happy unless I am covered in my medium -- when I'm drawing.  I am a bit of a sculptor while drawing the figure, so getting charcoal covered is normal and kind of fun for me ;-)

Yes, these are the strange things that make an artist happy!

Study of male nude torso in mixed media

"Study of male nude torso in mixed media" by Hilary J. England,

 Goauche and Conte on paper, 14" X 18"

I always like to try and mix thing up and use materials I don't use to often, so when I came across a box of gouaches tucked away in my studio, and decided to try and use them for a quick figure study.  I was really rusty with using the gouache, because it is a unique medium on it's own -- with the utility somewhere smack in the middle between watercolor and acrylics.  Just an interesting medium to use.

So, I did this hour figure study of a very lean and tanned young man, and I'm glad I tried something a little out of the box for myself.  Keeps things from getting too routine :-)

~Enjoy!

Study of male back/torso

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"Study of male torso/back in 3/4 rotation" by Hilary J. England, brown Conte on paper, 8" X 14"

Here is today's work. I was finally able to hook in with a male model, and do a few solid studies. This is the first one -- it took about an hour. I was in a slightly odd position of seeing him in a rotation, so although it was a challenge, it made for an interesting study.

I stuck with working strictly in brown Conte, with no other implementation of white or other color.  Simple and straightforward for this one 😊. Enjoy!