Václav
Václav (2023)
8½x11 Pastel on Pastel Paper
Original is Available
The glory and sweet of a man is the token of manhood untainted, And in man [...] a clean, strong, firm-fibred body, is more beautiful than the most beautiful face. — Walt Whitman
Meet Václav, the latest addition to the Mini Figurative series. There is a strong, highly assertive confidence to this pose that instantly made me want to get it down on paper. Standing completely naked from behind with his hands firmly on his hips, he’s glancing back over his shoulder with a sharp, guarded look that feels incredibly grounded and intense.
The fun part of this study was capturing how the anatomy shifts when someone puts their hands on their hips. It pulls the shoulders back and flares the back muscles, completely altering the shape of his torso. To make that definition pop against our familiar backdrop, I focused heavily on the stark contrast of the overhead lighting. I used a deep black palette to anchor the heavy weight of his spine, neck, and beard, then used bright highlights to map the hard edges of his shoulders and triceps, giving his athletic frame a really solid, clean look.
