How to Paint Human Figures

Figure painting is a long standing tradition in art.

Human portraits and human figures are a popular subject among artists because they like to use their art to explore human bodies and emotional states. By learning to paint human figures, you can improve your ability to explore human emotions and human themes in art. As you practice painting figures, your ability to paint people realistically will increase.

Things You'll Need

• Oil paint
• Paintbrushes (various shapes)
• Canvas
• Palette
• Paint thinner

Instructions

1. Draw an outline of the figure on the canvas leaving out all but the largest details.

2. Paint a thin wash of paint on the canvas. Paint flesh color over the skin and a base color over the clothing. Thin the paint by adding a few drops of paint thinner into the paint on the palette. Use a medium to small paintbrush.

3. Build up paint on the canvas, adding details like eyes, nose, mouth and patterns on clothes as you go. As the details get smaller and smaller, switch to smaller paintbrushes.

4. Paint highlights on the figure that you're painting. Mix paint for the highlights by adding white paint to the base colors you painted in Step 2.

5. Paint shadows on the figure. Mix paint for the highlights by adding a dark color like brown, blue or green to the base colors you painted in Step 2. Do not use black for the shadows.

Tips & Warnings

• If you're mixing your flesh-toned paint by hand, use red, yellow, white and a little bit of brown and blue for light colored skin. For darker colored skin, use red, brown, blue, yellow and a little bit of white.

• Paint from a live subject or from a photograph. Do not paint from imagination.

References

• Creative Spotlight; Figure and Portrait Drawing & Painting Lessons