A cherub

6 February 2025

Step-by-Step - Level ◆◆◆

Painting statues is a wonderful way to start off with painting people - they seem to be a whole lot less daunting. If you haven't done any figures before, then this lesson is a great place to start.

In this lesson we don't look at the details at all. We're not thinking feet, or hands, or eyes or ears. All we draw and paint are the shadows and the form emerges from them. The idea is very similar to the snowman we did for Christmas cards last year, except here we make it just a little more complicated.

For the colours for this lesson I used phthalo blue, quinacridone rose and permanent violet, as I wanted a sort of romantic feel (it being February!), but you can choose any colour combination you like - earth tones like in the reference photo, greens, blues or even a single monochrome colour.

A note about the colours I chose. They're super pretty and very transparent, but phthalo blue and quinacridone rose are both staining colours. That means that they're impossible to lift out off the paper. So if you're less confident and would like to correct any mistakes, then perhaps choose a less staining combination. For instance, cobalt blue and permanent rose.

Happy painting!