Do You Know Thomas LaPine?

Last week, we sat down with our fall instructor, Thomas LaPine, and asked some questions about his studio practice...

Where do you find meaning in rendering the human figure?

TL: I see the figure as a landscape to engage with. Where are the peaks, where are the valleys, and how does the light rake across the terrain? In this exploration, I am trying to see the figure for the first time and go in without a preconceived idea of what a figure is. Of course, I have resources such as perspective and anatomy to aid me, but I am trying to acquire a specific likeness of the object seen. At the end of the day, you are taking yourself on a visual roller coaster and want a hell of a ride!

Where does your enchantment lie? In the structure? In modeling? Something else?

TL: It’s a combination of all of the above: It’s how we orchestrate the work. Do we have the sensation of light cascading across form, and do we have a linear map describing the perimeters and interactions of the form? For myself, I go in with a kind of cold assessment of the situation. At first, a detachment of emotion. I focus on proportion, structure, form, and value relationships. Through this mental focus come flairs of enchantment and the recognition of truly seeing our love for the first time.

What art are you looking at now?  What are you reading?  What are you listening to?

TL: As far as art goes, I have a pretty big range of influences and try to find unexpected relationships. At the moment, there's a fantastic show at the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts called "True to Form" that holds a collection of work of 19th and 20th century drawings. The show has a range of work by Richard Tweedy, who taught at the Art Students League in New York. I have gained a lot of insight into his process of going back and forth between tonal and linear approaches. The way he clarified a tonal mass reminds me of the work of Euan Uglow. Bringing back selective moments of geometry to a soft bed of tone can really enliven a drawing, opening up new opportunities involving the nuance of structure and value range.

What is the ‘constellation’ in From Constellation to Form?

TL: The term “constellation,” for me, involves a flat way of working and forces us to engage more abstractly with our subject. When you look at the constellation Scorpio or Sagittarius, we really don’t see a giant scorpion or a centaur with a bow; it's really just a series of broad points and angles. However, within these abstract relationships lies the symbol or possibility of describing a scorpion or a figure. The idea of form will come later, and it may be helpful to think of anatomical points relating to one another spatially, similar to a wire sculpture armature.

What influences your choice to work monochromatically?  Is it a love of the medium of graphite? Is it a decision to restrict color in order to  ‘turn up the volume’ in other areas of the drawing?

TL: Working monochromatically can be a direct solution to handling and solving form and value relationships. My approach when dealing with color often feels like a detour from my typical drawing principles. I refer to Charles Hawthorne when thinking about color. As far as the overall effect of a monochromatic painting, I am gravitating more and more towards the unity this brings to the work rather than a variety of different color variations. Working monochromatically also helps us understand how to curate subtle color and temperature shifts by incorporating the use of the tone of the surface and the applied medium.

If you could have a conversation with any artist, living or historical, who would it be and what would you ask them?

There are so many artists to choose from, but one in particular is James Castle. Self-taught, James Castle lived from 1899 to 1977, and his work is rooted in the everyday farm life of the mid-20th century. His drawings often capture the haunting essence of this experience, evoking a sense of nostalgia and introspection. In other words, they bare teeth.

Thomas LaPine will teach From Constellation to Form: Drawing the Figure in our Marsala studio from September 7th - 13th, 2025 - have you signed up yet?