Underwater
Underwater (2022)
24×18 Pastel on Pastel Paper
Original is Sold
Occasionally, we find ourselves feeling Underwater. It might be uncomfortable, but it offers a completely different point of view. The best thing to do is relax, trusting we'll naturally float back up.
I’ve only painted one other underwater piece, but they are incredibly fun. The environment allows for fluid, suspended poses you wouldn't see on land, and working with deep blues and aquas is a refreshing change.
Here, I focused on how light behaves below the surface, mapping the dancing lines of refracted sunlight wrapping around his completely naked skin. Setting him in a weightless, gliding pose stretches the natural lines of his torso and legs. Since the water supports his weight, the lack of physical tension let me use softer shading to define his form against the shifting gradients of the sea.
