This is the topic I was going to look at two weeks ago and so wanted to fit it in before our long pose life model session next week so that we can look at ways of enriching our painting.
Although classical statues were covered with paint to make them more life-like, the fact that they are now of uniform colour opens up the possibility of observing contrast more clearly and playing with variations of hue and brushwork.
This is my attempt at illustrating this. It also opens up the possibility of painting the human form in a more dramatized way, making use of the physical properties of painting stone or bronze. These are Sargent watercolours and an oil painting.
However we choose to approach the resource material on Friday I hope it will be an opportunity to experiment ways of making our paintings come alive but not necessarily making them more "life- like".