Art in August | Rendering Distant Figures Using Impressionism

In this class, we'll use charcoal pencils and soft pastels to capture the impression of figures in a landscape, exploring how distance transforms the human form into a few carefully placed shapes and marks. You'll discover how minimal, deliberate mark-making - stacking simple forms to suggest weight, posture, and movement - can bring a scene to life. We will look at four works of art from the Impressionist movement to practice rendering distant figures. We will also use the spatial distance of the environment to help map the figures in the picture plane according to their placement in the foreground, middle ground, and background.

This is a part of the Art in August special class series! Join us every Monday, Wednesday and Friday night in August at the same time for classes covering various fine art skills and techniques.

We want to see your art! Submit pictures of your work from these classes here. Join us Monday August 31 for the student showcase and wrap up.

Sign up for other classes in this series:

Art in August | Graphite Drawing & Rendering Forms - August 3

Art in August | Contour Line & Expressive Mark Making Using Pen & Ink - August 5

Art in August | Value Study in Soft Pastels - August 7

Art in August | Understanding the Color Wheel - August 10

Art in August | Color Mixing Practice in Acrylics - August 12

Art in August | Beginner Still Life Painting in Acrylics - August 14

Art In August | Beginner Floral Painting in Watercolor - August 17

Art in August | Painting Natural Color Stories in Watercolor - August 19

Art in August | Landscape Painting in Watercolor - August 21

Art in August | Mapping Facial Proportions and Capturing Likeness - August 24

Art in August | Rendering Distant Figures Using Impressionism - August 26

Art in August | Illustrating Figures with Marker - August 28

Art in August | Student Work Showcase & Wrap Up - August 31