Figures in Paris - Lot’s of Wet on Wet : Preview

In this tutorial we take a trip to paris to paint 3 figures walking in the street with a beautiful feeling of light.

The first element of this tutorial is how to tackle figures at what I would say is the hardest scale. They are large enough that we need a certain level of accuracy to make them feel alive and moving, plus a few finer details and features to bring them to life. Yet, they are still at a scale where too much information, getting too fussy with details, can immediately make them feel too heavy and overworked. It’s defintiely a balancing act, but as always with a few pointers and tricks this becomes a lot easier.

The second element is of course the light, and with this a good look at the classic watercolour tecnique of wet on wet. When a scene is somewhat backlit like this one, it does become a little easier to tackle. The trick is understanding that the majority of the painting will be shadow, and that we can therefore paint large areas as one shape using wet on wet. This will create strong cohesive shapes of soft fuzzy shadows adding depth, atmosphere and plenty of contrast to the the few smaller areas of defined light.

Don’t be put off here. You can take this one slowly, bit by bit. Focus on simple tones, simple paint consistency and you will be fine. I can’t wait ot see how you get on.