Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Why I Like Painting Nudes In Ink

With all my nudes I try to capture a fleeting moment, an effect of (sun)light on skin and the unique contours of a woman's body it delineates. I paint without a preliminary drawing and quickly, though I will usually have done many drawings beforehand in order to work out the most pleasing (to my eye) and most natural-looking pose.

I then place my model in that position and execute the painting in about fifteen to twenty minutes, which lends a certain freshness and unpredictability to the final outcome. Ink, by its very nature, is difficult to control, (rather like herding cats) especially so on canvas, which makes it an exciting medium to work in.

You can never be certain of how it will look until dry, when all the subtle, accidental nuances of ink come into play. No touching up can be done once the ink has dried completely without ruining the painting, so concentration must be maintained at all times.

Painting in ink, for me,  represents the culmination of my expertise as a draughtsman and painter, gained over many years. It requires an assured and practiced hand, especially so when painting the female body, in which case weight and poise are paramount in creating an image which appears (hopefully) perfectly balanced and natural.

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