So this was a weird start for today’s figure in oil. The goal was to work up the figure with strictly defined areas of shadow and light.
I started with a detailed drawing in charcoal this time instead of using paint to draw the figure like last time. The time it took me to get a good drawing of the figure down was much less. So I would consider this part of the painting to be very successful. But then when I began working in defined areas of shadow and light it began to fall apart quickly.
What is interesting about this process is that I see it very similar to gouache. Not a lot of blending, just straight blocks of color. For most of it I felt as though I was painting by number. I had to ignore the subtle details of the figure and generalize into simple shapes. I find this to be very different than the way I like to work when drawing the figure in charcoal. Needless to say for my next figure in oil I will not be using this method.
