In yesterday’s post I was reflecting on the task of painting flesh tones, and in particular on the lack of advice that is readily available regarding how to paint people of African or Caribbean origin. Only today did it occur to me that I had missed the most important point. My search for advice ran … Read more
Well: when it comes to painting “black” people it is certainly not just black. I had a surprise this afternoon when I realised that for the first time in my life I was painting a figure with “black” skin. Just what colours should I use? I am used to painting European figures, and although the … Read more
I think it was Shakespeare who said that, although for the life of me I can’t recall the context. The phrase came into my head this afternoon when I was looking over the results of last night’s life-drawing class. I always like to bring my work home and spread it out in the studio during … Read more
Yes, I know all the art-school stuff about additive and subtractive colour. (Black is either the complete absence of colour or the sum of all of them.) I don’t mean that. I mean, “How do you paint a person with black skin?” The answer is quite interesting. The composition on which I am working at … Read more