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Top tips for figure painting by Craig Lee , PaintersOnline gallery member 1 Life classes Short five-minute poses make you concentrate on the important features. 2 Linear silhouette When drawing a figure with the intention of painting in oils or acrylics, use confident marks to draw a simple linear silhouette. Once this is done and depending on the scale of your figure, you may wish to make a note of the dark and light areas. By squinting you’ll be able to find an average value. Make a note of the shape created by each value. 3 Paint your background Before beginning a figure, paint a background tonal value to work from, even if it’s simply one or two strokes. 4 Dark to light When it comes to painting your figure continue to use confident marks. Begin with dark colours then mid-tones and finally your lights. B eing able to paint believable figures is a handy skill to have in your arsenal. Put a figure into a painting and the viewer is immediately drawn to it. ▼ Aller à la Plage (Going to the Beach), Saint Cast Le Guildo , oil on panel, 12 x 15¾in. (30 x 40cm). This painting is based on a photograph taken on a recent family holiday to Brittany, France. First it was drawn using a small Round brush then painted entirely with a small RGM Pro Grip palette knife. I used a limited palette with a mixture of Michael Harding and Winsor & Newton Artist oil paints. I like to mix the exact colour and value I want before applying it with a considered, but loose and confident stroke. I find that by using confident strokes my figures are more likely to appear believably in motion. FIGURES