I recently completed two small male figure studies. The first is “Still Sanding”, 12″ x 9″, oil on panel. My reference was an early 20th century Russian graphite drawing I found online (artist not known to me, yet). I was trying to recreate it in colour with two new pigments I’m trying out: a green umber from Rublev and a red ochre from Old Holland. It’s never ideal to use someone else’s life drawing as a source–I felt like I was inheriting the original artist’s choices, both good and bad–but it was a worthwhile colour exercise nonetheless. The second study is “Cool Figure Study, after Angel”, 12″ x 9″, oil on panel. This is my second copy of John Michel Angel’s much larger male figure study from life. My first one, “Warm Figure Study, after Angel”, is in my Figures portfolio on this site. I rarely paint anything twice but started both studies 3 years ago as an exercise in setting up warm vs. cool palettes for skin tones and backgrounds. It was a good colour exercise, but modelling the smaller forms proved far too difficult — especially fingers and toes. I’m pleased to report that both paintings have now been sold to a collector in New York state.