Introduction to Figure Painting (4 Sessions)

One of the most common difficulties for beginning and intermediate painters is finishing a painting. Starting a painting is simple enough, but understanding how to organize that start into a coherent, finished illusion of reality is the most difficult aspect of naturalistic painting. This class will teach you a step by step procedure to methodically navigate through a full figure painting. We start with a precise line drawing, then transfer it to a toned canvas, and lastly finish part by part, moving top to bottom in a process referred to as “window shading” by the 19th century masters. Having some familiarity with life drawing is recommended as a prerequisite for this class, although you don’t need to have painted before.

Week 1: Drawing & Transferring
Week 2: Color Mixing & Portrait Painting
Week 3: Rendering the Torso & Arms
Week 4: Finishing the Lower Body

Materials:
paints, brushes, medium(oil, terps) included

• 18x24 inch canvas
• 18x24 inch sheet of paper
• 2b graphite pencil
• medium vine charcoal
• kneaded eraser
• variety of sizes of hog bristle filbert brushes
• variety of sizes of synthetic or sable filbert brushes and one small round brush
• paper towels
• linseed oil
• medium cup
• brush cleaning soap (I use a bar of regular ivory soap)
• oil paint (I use all Gamblin professional grade and I'm not picky about the exact colors but I use Titanium White, Cadmium Yellow Light, Cadmium Red Light, Burnt Sienna, Ultramarine Blue, and Ivory Black).
• raw umber acrylic paint

About the Instructor: Aidan Barker-Hill
Aidan Barker-Hill is a figurative oil painter from Reno, Nevada. He earned his BFA from Laguna College of Art and Design in 2012 and his MFA from the New York Academy of Art in 2018. His work takes great influence from the academic painters of the 19th century, repurposing their techniques to make pictures about masculinity, relationships, and how the two interact. He’s received the Elizabeth Greenshields Grant and the Leipzig International Art Program residency. He lives and works in Brooklyn has exhibited with Monti8 in Rome and Arcadia Contemporary in New York City.