10 TIPS FOR
PAINTING
THE UNPOSEDIn his years of evaluating beachgoers
as art subjects, Maxion has honed his
ability to capture a figure’s essence
and movement, sometimes in the
simplest of strokes. Here’s his advice
for painting people.- See and paint people as shapes.
Identify and focus on what’s essential
to expressing your perception
of them. - Move around as you watch
people. View them off center, from
different perspectives and at different
angles of view. - Pay attention to the angles.
When drawing the figure, consider
the angles of the head, shoulders and
hips as they relate to one another and
to the movement of the centerline of
the torso. - Paint gestures, not body parts.
The body adapts itself as it moves
through space. Notice how each part
affects everything else, in relationship
to the overall gesture of the body. - Try out what you see. To h e l p y o u
understand the dynamic of a gesture,
try mirroring it with your own body. - People aren’t still lifes, so don’t
freeze them in time. They’re dynamic
even when they’re at rest. - Paint figures as relationships, not
as things. Relate individuals through
repetition of activity and gesture. - Visually connect individuals by
overlapping them. Draw and paint
overlapped figures as a single shape.
Distinguish them from one another
with the light. - Use people to point the way.
Draw them looking, turning or
moving toward each other to guide
the viewer through the composition. - Don’t paint like a zombie. To
be aware of others, you have to be
aware of yourself. Your viewer won’t
feel anything when looking at your
painting if you didn’t feel anything
when you painted it.
layer to the storyline. The boys seem
to have spotted them, showing a bit
of bravado to get their attention. But
the girls’ posture foretells the cool
reception the boys can expect.”
The “ideal” figure and classi-
cal pose doesn’t interest Maxion.
Instead, he looks for gestures that
reveal the beauty of the body in
both its grace and awkwardness.
“I paint the way people occupy and
move through space and express
themselves naturally through their
bodies,” he says. “I suppose that
people are most unique in what
would otherwise be called their
imperfections. For me, that’s where
the beauty lies.”
In Beach Buddies (on page 46),
he says he was attracted by the
simplicity of the girl’s line as she bal-
anced on one leg to scratch her foot.
“The dogs contribute to the playful-
ness of the scene,” Maxion says, “with
one appearing to call to the girl to
chase him into the water.”BALANCED,
CONNECTED, FRESH
Maxion’s color choices are guided in
part by feeling. “I want to express
the warmth of light and the coolness
of shadow as they feel rather than
simply as they look,” he says.
Prioritizing value and color tem-
perature is what allows the artist to
push his palette freely into bolder
hues. “I don’t think you can go over-
board with color as long as the valueArtistsNetwork.com 45