Back when art schools taught drawing and painting from life, working from plaster casts was an essential part of an artist’s training. Students would have spent a number of years practising from these statues, perfecting their drawing accuracy and learning to understand light and dark values before moving on to the more demanding subject of a live model and working in colour. Today, with the resurgence in the popularity in representational art some art schools, ateliers in particular have re-introduced cast drawing into their curriculum.
In this demonstration Alex shows how to paint a cast in oils using a direct “Alla Prima” technique. He is working in monochrome or “grisaille” using Raw Umber and Titanium White. This painting took approximately two and a half hours to complete.
