Human Figure for Beginners: Contemporary Approach

This course will teach you how to paint a human figure from the beginning - with and without photo-reference. The reason why we chose this subject is because contemporary figures will allow us to focus mainly on the expressive means, rather than conventional realism. This approach to figurative painting will be about self-expression, experimentation, breaking rules, and creating figures from imagination. This course may appeal to you if you are an absolute beginner, and if you already paint but are more comfortable with realistic representation. It will help you break away from being too uptight with figurative painting, especially if you have been avoiding painting people or not happy with how they turn out. If you admire artists who are creative and uninhibited, this course will help you make this leap in your art and get some fresh air into your figurative work. 

By treating this as an experiment, you don’t have to change your style or taste in art, rather you can use this opportunity to explore new techniques and investigate a more relaxed mindset. Your instructor, experienced in converting beginners to proficient artists and in working with seasoned students, will lead you through the steps to help you adapt and find your comfort zone. Instructor’s demonstrations, examples from the Museum of Contemporary Art, class discussions, and productive feedback will help you learn and enjoy the experience.

We specifically chose the human figure as the subject to help you make this transition. It is believed that in realism the human figure is one of the most challenging subjects, but in contemporary art you can simplify, exaggerate, distort, or change it in any way you want - in terms of its shape, colors and background. The most important things are freedom, self-expression, and an interesting way of seeing. When you liberate yourself from accurate proportions and the exactness of naturalistic colors, you discover that there is no right or wrong. In this course, you will learn to express yourself through brushwork, explore various ways of applying pigments, play with color-mixtures, make creative decisions on the go, and allow accidents. Some of those accidents will become your discoveries! When you are less attached to the image and not too concerned with resemblance, when you abandon the need to copy, you become truly unleashed as a painter. Now, instead of painting what you see, you can paint what you want to see. 

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All levels, Beginner to Experienced. 

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You will learn:

• to be more flexible with your reference images
• versatility with paints and brushes when painting people
• various paint application techniques 
• how to enjoy and welcome mistakes and happenings
• transform a figure to your liking 
• creative approach
• to achieve what you want to see in your painting