Watercolor figure study

(C) 2015 Dale DiMauro

Like most American households, my wife and I receive many alumni magazines in addition to all the mail order catalogs. The University of Oregon's school of allied arts sends out their alumni magazine every so often and usually there is an active outdoor scene on the cover. However, the recent cover does not depict some great western scene but students helping out with construction of a new building on the campus in Eugene, Oregon. This was the source of inspiration for this little figure study.

I mentioned in an earlier post when I have limited time I like to do little figure studies often on remnant watercolor paper. The posture, body proportions and color of the clothes seem to express everything in this watercolor. These little pictures do not have the build up of watercolor washes as a finished watercolor may have. I often use a handful of pigments at most. There is not much detail in the faces, hands or feet. I mix yellow ochre with quinacridone rose and the color simply reads as skin tone. The shadows are painted in payne's gray, depicting the direction of the light source and providing depth to the objects in the foreground.