In this lesson, you will apply color harmony principles directly to figure painting. Through a series of thumbnail studies and a full figure demonstration, Steve Huston explores different ways of organizing color, including warm–cool balance and dominant hue keying. The focus is on how large color masses, controlled value ranges, and carefully placed accents can bring unity to a painting.

This lesson belongs to the course Constructive Figure Painting I. In this 8-week course, master painter Steve Huston will lead you through the essentials of constructive figure painting. You will begin with the foundations of gesture and structure in drawing, then progress into painting through black-and-white studies, limited palettes, and expanded color. Each lesson builds sequentially, showing you how to organize values, simplify complex forms, and balance design with expressive brushwork. By the end of the course, you will have developed a strong foundation in gesture, structure, value, and color harmony that will prepare you for more advanced figure painting.

Throughout this course, you’ll have access to the NMA community for feedback and critiques to improve your work as you progress.