Direct Display, 11x14 inches, crayon and watercolor on Rives BFK, by Kenney Mencher Watercolor Male Torso Study
FREE SHIPPING Shipping takes 3–4 Weeks
This ships from Round Lake Beach, Illinois. A suburb outside of Chicago.
I use UPS and sometimes US Post.
Direct Display is one of the more intimate figure studies I’ve done, focusing entirely on the torso and pelvis of a standing male figure. I used watercolor and crayon on Rives BFK, layering washes of warm skin tones and then going in with pencil and crayon to define structure and gesture. The model’s pose—with the shirt lifted and the body squared to the viewer—feels bold and direct, but also quiet and personal.
I really pushed the planar structure here, building form through faceted, angular shapes that stack and shift across the ribcage and abs. I use optical mixing an impressionist technique where the eye blends the color, I placed each hue—pink, sienna, umber, and gray—in a way that almost feels like light bouncing off carved planes. The black background makes the body pop and lends the whole image a sense of spotlight, like a figure onstage or frozen in a cinematic still.
The hair—on the chest, stomach, and groin—is sketched loosely and rhythmically, adding texture without overworking. It reminds me of how Baroque artists used crosshatching to build volume and texture without drowning the image in detail. There's also a bit of the assertive cropping you’d find in classic photography or underground comics—honest and deliberate.
This isn’t a painting trying to idealize or flatter. It’s about presence—how skin stretches, how muscles sit, how posture reveals attitude. It might evoke feelings of vulnerability, power, or maybe just familiarity. Like many of my works, it’s part of an ongoing exploration of the body as a landscape of gesture, memory, and identity.
Details:
Materials: watercolor and crayon on Rives BFK
Size: 11 x 14 inches
Year: 2025
Unframed; ships flat in a protective sleeve
Signed on front
Ships in a rigid mailer
FREE SHIPPING Shipping takes 3–4 Weeks
This ships from Round Lake Beach, Illinois. A suburb outside of Chicago.
I use UPS and sometimes US Post.
Direct Display is one of the more intimate figure studies I’ve done, focusing entirely on the torso and pelvis of a standing male figure. I used watercolor and crayon on Rives BFK, layering washes of warm skin tones and then going in with pencil and crayon to define structure and gesture. The model’s pose—with the shirt lifted and the body squared to the viewer—feels bold and direct, but also quiet and personal.
I really pushed the planar structure here, building form through faceted, angular shapes that stack and shift across the ribcage and abs. I use optical mixing an impressionist technique where the eye blends the color, I placed each hue—pink, sienna, umber, and gray—in a way that almost feels like light bouncing off carved planes. The black background makes the body pop and lends the whole image a sense of spotlight, like a figure onstage or frozen in a cinematic still.
The hair—on the chest, stomach, and groin—is sketched loosely and rhythmically, adding texture without overworking. It reminds me of how Baroque artists used crosshatching to build volume and texture without drowning the image in detail. There's also a bit of the assertive cropping you’d find in classic photography or underground comics—honest and deliberate.
This isn’t a painting trying to idealize or flatter. It’s about presence—how skin stretches, how muscles sit, how posture reveals attitude. It might evoke feelings of vulnerability, power, or maybe just familiarity. Like many of my works, it’s part of an ongoing exploration of the body as a landscape of gesture, memory, and identity.
Details:
Materials: watercolor and crayon on Rives BFK
Size: 11 x 14 inches
Year: 2025
Unframed; ships flat in a protective sleeve
Signed on front
Ships in a rigid mailer
FREE SHIPPING Shipping takes 3–4 Weeks
This ships from Round Lake Beach, Illinois. A suburb outside of Chicago.
I use UPS and sometimes US Post.
Direct Display is one of the more intimate figure studies I’ve done, focusing entirely on the torso and pelvis of a standing male figure. I used watercolor and crayon on Rives BFK, layering washes of warm skin tones and then going in with pencil and crayon to define structure and gesture. The model’s pose—with the shirt lifted and the body squared to the viewer—feels bold and direct, but also quiet and personal.
I really pushed the planar structure here, building form through faceted, angular shapes that stack and shift across the ribcage and abs. I use optical mixing an impressionist technique where the eye blends the color, I placed each hue—pink, sienna, umber, and gray—in a way that almost feels like light bouncing off carved planes. The black background makes the body pop and lends the whole image a sense of spotlight, like a figure onstage or frozen in a cinematic still.
The hair—on the chest, stomach, and groin—is sketched loosely and rhythmically, adding texture without overworking. It reminds me of how Baroque artists used crosshatching to build volume and texture without drowning the image in detail. There's also a bit of the assertive cropping you’d find in classic photography or underground comics—honest and deliberate.
This isn’t a painting trying to idealize or flatter. It’s about presence—how skin stretches, how muscles sit, how posture reveals attitude. It might evoke feelings of vulnerability, power, or maybe just familiarity. Like many of my works, it’s part of an ongoing exploration of the body as a landscape of gesture, memory, and identity.
Details:
Materials: watercolor and crayon on Rives BFK
Size: 11 x 14 inches
Year: 2025
Unframed; ships flat in a protective sleeve
Signed on front
Ships in a rigid mailer
