Lucian Freud and I - The Difference

Lady in Green

It was a challenge to capture both the pose, the mood and the body. Through my love of watercolors I had to simplify the painting and at the same time find points of interest where I can best express myself.

I find that Lucian Freud exaggerates what he sees, if the nude model is thin he paints her extra thin, if she is fat he paints her extra fat. In this painting I am left to wonder what he exaggerated. 

I find his paintings fascinating and captivating. I had the privilege of seeing his exhibition at the London Portraits Gallery and it was just sheer pleasure.  

My painting is 30cm x 40cm watercolors and watercolor pencils.

How to Photograph your Painting?

Same Painting - Different Photo Techniques

  

Are you looking to upload the photo of your painting? Are you wondering what is the best way to do it?

Well if you paint on paper then you have another choice that is very cost effective and yields good results.

The left photo was taken using a professional camera with professional lighting. This method was quite expensive since I paid for the professionals time.

The right photo was taken using an ordinary color scanner. My painting is on paper that is 30cm by 40cm and it does fit into the scanners that are found at foto shops. I had the painting scanned and I have to admit that I was quite happy with the results. The colors are not so vibrant as the left, they are lighter, but I can't say that it bothers me since it is very very close to the original painting.

The painting is of a man lying down and I chose to paint him in these bright pink and orange colors. I am passionate of the results I get from watercolors; it's a skill that takes time to acquire but once you're there you're usually addicted. 

Nude Man Crouching Watercolor Painting

                                         Feeling Purple

There are many ways to paint the human body but this pose really challenged me. Here is a man that looked quite innocent and peaceful and I transformed it into fire. The fire that is in his veins; the fire that is in his head; the fire that makes up who he is.

It was quite challenging to get the pose right; the proportions right but I think I got it.

I love how the colors blend into each other and there is no distinct borders between colors.

I think the depth and muscle tones were achieve quite nicely. Not a typical male pose looking into at the beholder but rather one that holds secrets.

In this painting I chose to draw him in purples, blues, grey, orange and yellows with a distinct highlight of purple.

This painting was inspired by one of Lucian Freud's oil paintings. This painting is watercolor paints and pencils on paper 30cm x 40cm.

How to paint the body when Feeling Blue!

Feeling Blue!

This watercolor painting is of a young lady that is muscular, happy with her body and happy with where she is today. But this is what happens when I'm feeling blue.

This is a painting of a woman lying on a bed stretching out - but I decided to exclude from the painting anything that is not the body. Did not use the bed or the blanket that was covering part of the legs. Just the body was painted.

In the painting I chose a few colors blue, purple, green, and a touch of red and orange.

This painting was inspired by one of Lucian Freud's oil paintings. This painting is watercolor paints and pencils on paper 30cm x 40cm.

Nude Body - How to Paint Body No Scenery

Friends Resting

This watercolor painting may look a bit weird - where is the rest of it? Why are there parts that are detached? Does it make sense.

Yes, it makes sense to me. I decided to paint the Bodies of these 2 men without any clothes and without any furniture (pillows) that were surrounding them.

The man with just hands and face was wearing clothes; I just omitted that part of the painting. The nude man was leaning on a pillow and both were sitting on a sofa.

In the painting I chose to draw them in a variety of colors - but the orange hair I love the most.

This painting was inspired by one of Lucian Freud's oil paintings. This painting is watercolor paints and pencils on paper 30cm x 40cm.

Woman Posing - How to Paint the Body

Stretching

One way to paint the body is to find an interesting pose - one that will challenge you. With this pose of a woman stretching I was able to challenge myself. I think that the viewer is also challenged because it is not a typical pose - one stops to actually look at her.

This painting was not an easy task it took work to try and get the proportions right without too many distortions.

I think the depth and muscle tones were achieve quite nicely. Again not the classic Barbie doll but indeed a very attractive woman.

I love the pose and I love they way it all came together.

In this painting I chose to draw her in purples, blues, grey, orange and browns with a distinct highlight of purple.

This painting was inspired by one of Lucian Freud's oil paintings. This painting is watercolor paints and pencils on paper 30cm x 40cm.

Nude Painting - How to Paint the Body

Red Head

Here is a lady painted in the nude in watercolors. This is not your typical watercolor painting of a landscape or of a city view but rather of a woman. A woman in all her beauty.

To paint the nude body the proportions and the curves and the ability to show the muscle tones are what is really going to make your painting successful and attractive. This painting is not of the classical Barbie doll but rather of a real woman that maybe already gave birth; that has experienced life and her body has reacted to it.

I love the pose and I love they way it all came together.

In this painting I chose to draw her in purples, blues, grey and browns with a distinct highlight of red.

This painting was inspired by one of Lucian Freud's oil paintings. This painting is watercolor paints and pencils on paper 30cm x 40cm.

Look at the sections for paper and paints to see which I strongly recommend.

Nude Painting - How Watercolor Makes a Difference

                                                           Resting

This is a pose that I took out of Lucian Freud's collection of Nude Painting. I fell in love with his painting and with how he is able to capture the nude body.

I decided to paint it in watercolor and I think I gave the painting a new feel and a new personality. 

Watercolor is a wonderful medium and using it for the nude body is innovative and fun.

Here I am using watercolor and watercolor pencils as highlights. Of course on 100% high quality cotton paper.

Nude Painting - The Body in Watercolor

                                                         Hiding

This is a pose that I took out of Lucian Freud's collection of Nude Paintings. I think it is a wonderful pose. 

She does not want to be seen. She does not want to see. She is upset and needs time to herself.

This is one of my favorite nude paintings for I feel the choice of colors play a major role in portraying her.

I love the flow of the hair and the color that I was able to create. I the color of the body how the different shades are the to show off the skin and hair.

The curves of the body are shown off wonderfully - the color grey and purple - both warm and cold at the same time.

Watercolor on cotton paper - 30 cm x 40 cm

Nude Paintings - The Naked Body

Today I uploaded into Slideshare a new presentation - Nude Paintings in Original Watercolors . I uploaded my collection of work that was inspired by Lucian Freud's paintings.

I am especially enchanted by paintings that relate to the naked body. What I have seen is that when he has someone pose for him he does not paint the person as he looks in the mirror but rather he extenuates a feature and turns it into a highlight.

This pose of a lady was taken from one of his books. She is looking straight at him and he chooses to paint her with little flesh and lots of bones - a very thin portrayal of the real her.

Did any of you get this same feeling?

Male Dancer - In the Nude

                                                      In the Nude

A dancer is a man that works hard at developing his body and his dance skills. In this pose you are able to both his dancing skills and how hard he worked and keeps working on keeping his body fit.

I have a lot of respect for dancers and their abilities. It is a hard profession and a very rewarding profession.

This painting is quite intricate. It is layers of black watercolor on very white paper and layers of black ink. The depth of the muscles and length of the body is extensively expressed.

The painting is on 100% white cotton paper - 30 cm by 40 cm.

Pink Frill - Woman Posing

Pink Frill

This particular painting is one of my favorites. I feel that I was able to accomplish the contours of the body and the shading quite successfully.

The garment is quite pale - an uneventful shade of grey.

The body has lots of life and colors. The skirt is black ink on watercolor which gives the effect of a knit.

I call this Pink Frill because it is so unexpected. Where did pink come from...

Watercolor and ink on 100% cotton paper - 30 cm by 40 cm

 

Male Dancers in Watercolor

                   Male Dancers - Black Male and White Male

Two male dancers coming together to make a statement. This is one of my earlier paintings with this technique of watercolor and ink. I first draw the outline of the male figures, then I lay down the different shades of black watercolor then I go in with the ink overlay. With the ink I also create different layers to show the different muscle tones and lighting.

I love this painting because I also allow the background white to play an important role in the lighting. The lighting of the hair, arm muscles and the rest of the body.

These two dancers have come together in harmony. Their years of training have allowed them to stand so eloquently next to each other - totally supporting each other.

The painting is on 100% cotton paper and is 30 cm by 40 cm

Male Dancer in Motion

Male Dancer

While I was experimenting with the background color for this striking male dancer in pose... I decided to try a light grey. As with the Male Dancer post of February 25th the same watercolor technique was also used here. I had to use a roller to make sure there were no visible brush stoke marks visible on the paper.

The pose of the dancer showing all of his exceptional muscle tone is still brilliantly evident on the lighter grey background. I do believe that on the darker grey background the beautiful muscle tones are more evident.

I hope that you enjoy this black and white watercolor and ink painting  as much as I do.

I use 100% cotton paper that is manufactured in Spain - Garzapapel  of Garza Papel, S. L. Spain CE and is very difficult to attain.

Man Dancing - Watercolor and Ink Painting

Man Dancing

With this watercolor painting of a male dancer I experimented. I wanted to see how I would be able to paint the background a dark color before I start with the actual male dancer. I wanted to see how the lighting on the paper would change when working with a dark grey background. The background is painted with about 4 layers of watercolor black - yet look at how it is still not opaque and how the light still comes thru. 

This was quite a challenge - to paint such a large area and not leave brush stroke watermarks.  Using the brush just did not work. I decided to use the roller (yes roller with watercolors - acquarelle) and that worked perfectly.

The pose of the dancer showing all of his exceptional muscle tone is brilliantly evident.

I hope that you enjoy this black and white watercolor and ink painting  as much as I do.

I use 100% cotton paper that is manufactured in Spain - Garzapapel  of Garza Papel, S. L. Spain CE and is very difficult to attain.

Blue Dancers in Watercolor

 Blue Dancers

The Blue Dancers pose captured me in how it highlights not only the dance but also all the muscles that magically come together to make it happen. 

I have another Blue Dancer painting that is the same except for the representation of the upper Man Dancer.

In this watercolor painting the Male Dancer is real; he exists and he is very very intriguing.Two dancers that come together in very different poses that make this painting come alive.

The technique in this watercolor painting is indeed very high quality watercolors and ink on cotton paper.

Prom Dress in Watercolor

Prom Dress

 

This watercolor painting of a woman in fancy dress is definitely not what you expect for the prom yet that is exactly what it reminded me of.

In these days when a beautiful young and impressionable young lady go to the prom does she need protection?

In this dress all of the beautiful lines are highlighted and still she is protected behind what seems to be armor.

The blues and the purples and the greens are just beautifully laid down on paper.

The technique is watercolor paints and watercolor pencils on high quality cotton paper.

Blue Dancer in Watercolor

Blue Dancers

 

The Blue Dancer pose captured me in how it highlights not only the dance but also all the muscles that magically come together to make it happen.

The Man Dancer up above; is he really there or is she just wishing, imagining, visualizing...

Watercolors allow you the capability of such transparency on the cotton paper that no other color (oil painting or acrylic painting) will allow.

The technique in this watercolor painting is indeed very high quality watercolors and ink on cotton paper.

Walking Woman in Watercolor

                                                Walking Woman

 The woman is in motion walking toward ... she is exposed and the overcoat is there to protect her in case of need. This watercolor painting holds intrigue and poise.

This pose reminds me of Sophie's Choice

The technique is watercolors and ink. Notice how well defined the contours are and the intricate details of the panties.