How I Paint Figures without Painting Figures.

Welcome back to another BobBlast!

This BobBlast is titled How I Paint Figures without Painting Figures. It is an adventurous way to get unexpected results and surprises while painting figures. Whether you are working on a pregessoed canvas or a gessoed sheet of watercolor paper, the technique I sometimes use is called “reductive painting” — taking some of the paint away.

To do this, I usually use isopropyl alcoholsoaked Viva towels to wipe away the wet acrylic paint down to the white gesso ground. First, I start by painting a medium tint over the entire surface. Then after that initial tint has dried, I add a dark color over the top of it — and while it’s still wet, I wipe away and lift off the paint until a figure appears out of the dark color.

Start with removing a spot for the head, then move and wipe as you proceed downward to the feet. This is only a start — not meant to be a final image, however, sometimes it turns out pretty cool at the beginning too!

Practice, practice, practice…