Grisaille study, nude figure

Here's another grisaille model study, this one of a nude dude instead of a nude lady.

I do grisaille paintings like this one when I feel like I'm out of practice, or when I need to focus on fundamentals for a while.

In an odd way, painting in black and white is less forgiving than painting in color is. All of your decisions, all of your tactility and all of your drawing is right there, unadorned. Color is so wonderful that it can make up for all kinds of weaknesses and problems in a painting. And when color is absent, the drawing, brushstrokes, masses and values have to sustain the painting on their own.



(click to enlarge)