Andres Canovas led this meeting of the Unit.
This IEU focuses on the representation of the human figure in relation to landscape, on how they affect one another, and on how they alter the final artwork.
‘Landscape with Figures’ is a pictorial subgenre that has been practiced from ancient times with two main purposes: to put the characters into context, or to emphasize the scale of the landscape.
It has been used to communicate religious, political and philosophical ideas, to commemorate historical events, to perpetuate images of our everyday life and to transmit the artist´s individual views and emotional state.
Since the Impressionists and throughout the XX century art revolution, artists have been stretching the limits of ‘Landscape with Figures’ towards abstraction and to other more conceptual forms of art.
EXCERCISE
For today´s Male IEU, and thanks to Mark Allen´s generosity and kindness, we have moved to a different location where we will be working open air, on an eighth floor terrace with fantastic 180º views over London.
The session will have three long poses of 30 to 40 minutes each. The aim is to investigate the relationship between the figure and its surrounding, when these surroundings can overwhelm the presence of the figure.
This session is actually a continuation of our Male IEU on 21 June: “Object, Trope and Symbol”. It is convenient to remember what we experimented in relation to ‘Visual Tropes’, Symbol and Symbolism. Artists are encouraged not to draw exclusively what they see.
Pose 1:
Pose 2:
Pose 3:
Jonathan Armour 
Look at the work by Keith Vaughan, who specialized in the nude male figure in the landscape during the late 1940’s and 50’s when painting such subjects would have put most people under the suspicions of the police.
It was inspiring getting to work out there in the open. I’d love to do it again. The views were spectacular and the bravery and strength of Adam, our model, did not know limits. The experience of the space itself is what really took me by the guts. I love what you did, guys, -even those who are to shy to share your work- but I have to mention Brian’s work on this session. Brilliant.