Figures

The subject at AVA last week was figures and portraits.As I am sure you are aware this is completely out of my comfort zone!! We were  able to either paint from a model, or from a photograph of our choice. I volunteered to be the model for the first half an hour, thinking that this would delay and shorten the time I would have to spend trying to do something reasonable. I know that they are only shapes and should be treated like any other series of shapes, but I do find them difficult.
For the remainder of the morning, after having done my stint of sitting, I needed a figure or figures which was simple, and I found a picture of a child sat in front of a begging bowl, almost completely swathed in a dark grey garment. I decided to change the colours of the cloth to make a much more lively picture, but I still wanted to capture the fear and poverty reflected in his/her expression. I hope the bright colours of the cloth do not detract from this!

The work was done on Fabriano Artistico paper, and I made good use of the remaining blob of Schmincke Transparent Orange, together with a variety of reds, browns and oranges.