Chris Campbell Watercolors: Putting people in your landscapes

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Putting people in your landscapes

As promised, I want to discuss some principles Yuki Hall stressed on putting people in your paintings to give a feeling of depth and perspective.

to start with, here are two video links that talk about perspective drawing in general.

a ten-minute video on beginning perspective, one and two point

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn_0wEwZNEU

a 28-minute video by Liron Yanconsky that has good common sense tips on perspective. He begins talking about adding figures around the 10-minute mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMgBUXfwS0g

So here are some things I learned from Yuki Hall (and from other sources) about adding figures.

1. Keep the head small - just a dot, circle, or oval. (I try for oval)
2. The body can start out as a carrot shape or elongated triangle.
3. Don't paint in feet or hands, generally
4. You usually only see 1 - 1 1/2 legs
5. Allow colors to mingle on the paper
6. Add a shadow underneath to connect to ground

In the picture below, the top row of peoople and the bottom row are done the "blob" method. I put in some blobs of paint for shirts, added skirt, shorts, or pants, then added legs, face, hair. The middle row is done in perspective with "triangle" people. I used pictures from magazines to practice different poses.

The number one thing has to do with perspective. In general, on a level plane, adult heads will begin at eye level, or the horizon line. Only if the person is taller or shorter or bending over is this different.

So the first order of business is to find your eye level.
In the picture below, the horizon line, or eye level will be about the level of the bottom of the windows. Lightly draw that in. ( a straight horizontal line across the paper)

Then find the correct angle for the sidewalk. (You could extend the horizon line to the left, then follow the angle of the side of the church to the left, and where the two lines converge is the vanishing point)

Lightly sketch in heads on the horizon line, then an elongated carrot or triangle to the point where they meet the sidewalk. Then fill in your figures using very simple strokes. Facial details are not needed.