Devoted to rhythm and dynamic color, Williams delivers glorious results.
Alice Williams’ painting-in-progress is a wonder of abstracted shapes and colors that gradually evolves into a dynamic figurative piece. Art students of all levels will benefit from watching this seasoned painter develop the challenges of interpreting the human figure. In this 116-minute video, Williams ably demonstrates every stage of the painting, beginning with a gesture drawing, moving to a straight-line drawing, and finally to the application of paint in her characteristically lush strokes.
Before she touches the brush to canvas, Williams takes time to explain her plan to the live audience. The principles she follows throughout the demonstration were first taught her by Russian artist-teacher Constantin Chatov, Marc Chatov’s uncle.
Williams paints a compositional sketch directly on the plastic film that covers her canvas. This preliminary gesture gives the artist a chance to explore composition and figurative proportion without marring the canvas. When she peels the film away, she is ready to begin her two-stage drawing, developed first in pale ochre, and later in a deeper pigment. As she progresses into the application of paint, her stated goal of “creating a body of rhythm and dynamite color” comes to life.

Alice gives a discussion of oil paint combinations: producing harmonious cools and warms; avoiding muddy colors; mixing scintillating black and other palette colors; she shows the importance of keeping the palette clean. She also shows ways for posing the model.

Think: Warm and Cool Colors!
Think: Shapes!

The video shows the planning of the composition: searching for geometric shapes within a subject, and using gesture drawing to explore lines and placement. It also provides a discussion of values, including the importance of establishing the darkest darks, of avoiding the addition of white to middle tones and much more.