Small figures add life to your painting. They add a good scale reference to your painting, because we see people every day, having figures makes your picture more relatable. Even though small figures in scenery paintings are usually not the focus, it shouldn’t be an afterthought. Today, I want to share with you some essential tips to paint small figures in your scenery painting. Even though they are not the main focus of the painting, and it won’t likely break your painting if it has good shapes and values. But good looking figures do make a difference. Imagine a painting giving its viewer a great first impression that encourages them to take a closer look, but only disappoint them by some not-so-good looking figures. That would be a shame, right? So let’s talk about three things that you should be paying attention to when painting a figure. I call them GPS.
The G here means gesture. The gesture is the movement and the balance of the figure. Every figure has a gesture. Even a simple walking pose has a gesture. And capturing that gesture is important. Try to capture the movement of the figure with lines. Find the longest line that connects from top to bottom. You can usually find the gesture by looking at the person’s spine. Also, think about the balance of the figure, where does the person puts his or her weight on. This is the fastest way to capture a figure.
The P stands for proportion. A typical adult is about seven and a half heads tall. Sometimes I see people painting figures that’s about 5 heads. It’s very simple to remember. Let’s start from the top: We have our first head. The second head ends at the chest. The third head ends at the waist. The fourth head ends at the pelvis. From the fourth to the seventh head is the thigh and leg, and the midpoint is the knee. And the last half of the head is the feet. The shoulder is typically 2 to 2 ½ width. That’s the general proportion of a figure. The best way to avoid figure looking too short or too skinny is to make the head smaller. Visually, even if the head is really small, you’ll likely just make the supermodel that's 8-9 heads tall, no big deal.
The S stands for shape or structure. We all know good shapes are important in a painting. A small shape, such as the figure, is no exception. You can tell immediately if an experienced artist does a painting if you spot a good looking figure. Again this takes practice and experience. But there are a few things that you should always watch out for:
The head is not a perfect circle. It is more of an oval or rectangular shape. A perfectly round head reminds people of a stick figure. Try to avoid it. So if you are painting a figure, paint the head with a brushstroke, not a dot.
Give your figure a nice shoulder line. Don’t draw a curvy shoulder, give it a nice straight shoulder line. This makes the figure looks more graphical and distinctive.
Suggest a structure with brushstroke. The way you paint your figure matters. Even when it is small, and each leg takes only one brush stroke to paint. You should still think about how should you paint it. Should it be straight, curved, thick, or thin? Like I always say, make every brush stroke mean something.
Check out the video above to see a bonus demo on the figure!