Carl Judson - Guerrilla Painter Notebook

People Practice

Building Don Rolando's Stairway
Huayculi, Bolivia
Carl Judson © 2001
Oil on linen, 4½" x 7½".

Not all landscapes benefit from the
addition of figures, but they frequently provide context and scale. Creating figures that are neither trite nor wooden presents
a challenge to plein air painters.

Street Corner
Lima, Peru
Carl Judson © 2001
Oil on linen, 4½" x 7½".

It’s all very well to say that you just have to start putting people into your paintings, but that’s easier said than done. It feels
pretty risky to just plunk a figure (often in motion) into a plein air painting. Over the years I have found ways that have helped me in my quest to observe how people behave in the landscape - and then stay in practice.

In many places there are “pay for the model” sessions where a group of artists gather once a week to share the cost of a model. Typically, these sessions will start
with ten or so warm-up “gestures,” where the model will change poses every few seconds, followed by longer poses ranging from 20 minutes to an hour or more.

Joseph and Judy Brewer "Hanging Nets"
Stonington, ME
Carl Judson © 1992
Oil on linen, 10" x 7½".

I find the gestures and shorter poses most useful for developing my “guerrilla street skills.” When I’ve been lucky enough to find and join such groups, the week-in, week-out discipline has really paid
off. I kind of stick out like a sore thumb with my paint box while everyone else is using charcoal on newsprint. I use my pochade box and paints at these sessions - always - because, after all, I’m trying to learn how to solve these problems in paint.

Figure Study
Carl Judson © 1995
Oil on museum board, 7½" x 6".

I’ve found out in real life that it’s easier to start by finding venues where people are sitting still (like parks and cafes) or engaged in activities that involve predictable
repeated motions (like fishing or directing traffic) that can be observed over and over.

After School
Fort Collins, CO
Carl Judson © 2004
Oil on linen, 6" x 7½".

One of my favorite approaches is to watch a baseball game on television with my pochade box in my lap and paint the players (bowling or golf would work, too).

I find this really challenging and instructive. The TV images are repeated throughout the course of the game, but only for a second
or two at a time. Learning to capture a pose from these fleeting observations is really helpful. By the way, TiVo® is cheating

One of my favorite “how to” books, Oil Painting: Pure and Simple¹ by Ron Ranson and Trevor Chaimberlain, has a great section on figures in the landscape.

1. Oil Painting: Pure and Simple by Ron Ranson and Trevor Chamberlain
ISBN: 978-0713717440