Scott Waddell has released a downloadable art instruction video called “The Art of Painting: An In-Depth Look at How an Artist Thinks and Sees.” In the hour-long workshop, he develops three paintings: two female head studies from observation, and a multi-figure composition from imagination.

The tutorial takes the viewer through the process of drawing and painting these images in oil from a live model.

Waddell is an instructor at the Grand Central Academy in New York, and has studied in Florence.
In explaining the first drawing steps, he shows how he first observes the shapes in 2D and then reconstructs them with knowledge of 3D structure.

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I have received quite a few messages from people who are new to this blog. If you found your way here because you just received a copy of one of my books as a holiday gift, welcome!

GurneyJourney is a daily blog that covers a variety of art-related topics: color, light, sketching, visual perception, portrait painting—and the making of my fantasy book Dinotopia. There’s also a bit of art history, focusing on realists from the 19th century and the golden age of illustration.

The art instruction books grew directly from the blog posts, and from the comments that follow after them. To learn about a specific topic or artist, try the search box in the upper left.

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