Figure study

(C) 2016 Dale DiMauro

It has been very uncomfortable in our house with the heat and humidity, not to mention workers installing heat pumps, days on end, it seems. Disinclined to take on a large project in these conditions, I tried something a bit smaller. The other evening I had this scrap of Arches watercolor paper on my desk. I thought with its narrow dimensions it lent itself to a vertical composition for a figure study. 

Catching people behaving naturally doing ordinary activities seems to be an art in of itself. You have to be aware of your surroundings and tuned in to what people are doing. The scene can change abruptly; for example, if a summer thunderstorm moves in everyone suddenly disappears. I like trying to catch people who are active but unconscious of being watched. It is very different approach from posing someone for a detailed up close study. I do find that if you add a person to a picture it immediately adds a focal point. If it is a figure rather than a portrait, adding that person provides movement to the piece in more cases than not.

It has occurred to me that matting and framing this piece would be a challenge as it is quite narrow. However, at this point, I have not given it much consideration.