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I've never ceased to be amazed at the boundless possibilities for expression in figurative painting.  There are five elements, no six, that make figurative work such an ongoing joy for me as an artist.  They are...

• Gesture--This is the pose, the "attitude" struck by the model, so often so subtle but oh what power a gesture holds!

• Composition and Pattern--This is the lay of the figure within the four walls of the canvas, the wonderful play of positive and negative spaces, lines that enter the canvas then exit it, and shapes--often provided by simple elements of clothing--that make a painting bold.

• Asymmetry--When it comes to asymmetry, there's nothing like the human form to offer the very best.  Add a turned head and raised chin to a thrown-back shoulder and a twisted torso and you can't help but have a painting.

• Drapery/Clothing--Some artists feel clothing detracts from the human form.  I find it to be a wonderful addition to the creative mix and an extraordinary context for expressive brushwork.

• Lighting--Perhaps from multiple sources, of varying intensities, sometimes direct, sometimes reflected, strong, subtle, varying in color--place a human form within such light and...wow!  It makes me glad to be a painter.

• Magic--And finally, that element that no painter can explain but that we all celebrate when it happens.  Magic.  Surprise.  That most important element of "I don't know how it happened but I was there and it did".  For me, figurative painting invites magic.

--Don Haggerty

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Sophie's Dream
Oil on canvas  30" x 24"