STACKING FIGURES:

Definition Of The Term & Concept

What are “Stacked Figures”?

Stacking Figures is a term I use to describe the concept of connecting figures together in your composition so they are reading compositionally as one object. A great example of this is Paul Wonner’s painting shown here. There are clearly two figures but grouped together they feel joined as one mass in the painting.

Stacking or connecting figures immediately creates a relationship between them. An energy and narrative becomes apparent on the canvas. We have narrative whenever there are two figure on the canvas, however connecting the figures and/or placing one in front of the other can be somewhat unusual and can often create interesting compositions.

VIDEO: Several artists who have used Stacked or Connected Figures in their work.

Please Note: Each video in this course has its own unique password.

▸ VIDEO PASSWORD: Figures
▸ VIDEO LENGTH: 12:00 minutes

Give Yourself Permission To Be Creative!

Before we begin the next project, let’s take a look at this inspiring video which emphasizes the spirit of play and personal creativity!

Project: CONNECT THE FIGURES

I use oil and cold wax in this demo. The composition of this painting was planned in a preliminary sketch, which is not how I typically work as most of you know. I do find that with multiple figures, however, having a general idea of your figure placement beforehand is helpful and sometimes necessary.
I also stop at one point and make some decisions in Procreate before I proceed with some major changes to the painting.

NOTE: For some reason it is very hard to get the yellow green color I was using to film correctly both on the video camera and on my iPhone. The colors in the photo below are fairly accurate. The video color slants a bit more towards the yellow instead of the green. The color in the image shown at the end of the demo is more accurate.

Demo: PART ONE

(The demo is divided into two videos for ease of downloading)
Please Note: Each video in this course has its own unique password.

▸ VIDEO PASSWORD: Stacked1
▸ VIDEO LENGTH: 28:07 minutes

Demo: PART TWO

▸ VIDEO PASSWORD: Stacked2
▸ VIDEO LENGTH: 13:00 minutes

YOUR TURN:

Create a painting with two figures stacked. You will be creating a narrative just by using this placement/concept. In your work, look at how the stacking concept can potentially create an interesting composition.

Things to remember:

Are the figures in a large space (like Diebenkorn’s or Christensen’s)
Are the Figures brought forward and cropped at the front or side? (like Wonner’s)
What is the dynamic or energy that you want your figures to portray?

Artist Focus

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VERONICA CAY

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Artist Focus 〰️ VERONICA CAY 〰️

Veronica Cay is AMAZING!

A super creative (she does sculpture too), she uses multiple figures in most of her work. These images are not specific to “Stacking Figures,” however, you can see her use all of the techniques in this course in her work. Cay works with hundreds of sketches and drawings that she has created and uses them as a foundation for her paintings. She works in multiple mediums including oil, acrylic, collage, and charcoal. I cannot find a good interview video with her, however you can read about some of her process in the PDF provided here.