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January 22, 2004
standing figures and tall grass
I’ve been painting standing figures for the Unstuck panels, and they are tricky. Your standing figure is a hard nut to crack. To make it look balanced, relaxed, comfortable and strong is difficult. [I have in fact been trying to crack this particular nut for many years.]
I’ve been doing studies of the figures, which are generally torsos. The torsos look fine, proportion-wise. The same figure, standing, as I say, is difficult. The legs are good, the torsos are good, but together something isn’t working yet. And I know why.
Three and a half million years ago, when we first came down from the trees and generally started walking around upright, Africa was all tall grass. So the first impression we got of ourselves was from the thighs up – torsos. And it is into that image that we try and fit the image of the standing figure today.
Which is also why no-one notices when you shave your beard off – but that’s another story for another day.
Posted by john at January 22, 2004 05:56 PM
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