Figurative Works in Oils and Pencil
Richard L Tuck’s figurative paintings and drawings of people accentuate the direct realism of the human form embracing the appreciation of the fragment in relationship the surroundings.
These figurative works trace a five‑decade investigation into presence, interiority, and the psychological conditions of looking. Across both paintings and drawings, the figure becomes a site of perception rather than simple depiction—a vessel through which spatial tension, direct emotional resonance, color, and surface are examined. The viewer’s own sense of selfhood is implicated in this exchange.
The range of subjects is broad: purely figural studies such as Horizontal Woman; figures situated within interiors, as in Reflections; figures placed in landscapes, as in In the Distance; and symbolic or culturally charged environments, as in Peering — Ethiopian. Throughout these works, I aim to express both the “cool,” objective approach to the human figure that shaped my early training—from modernism through postmodernism—and the inherent warmth and power of observed human flesh as a subject in its own right, figures independent of individual identity. I want the cool and the subjective viewing to coexist.
While Me in Perspective (2019) returns to the cooler, drier palette of earlier decades, it is not typical. Works such as No Rest and Woman in Mirror continue the strong forward color and controlled light found in much earlier pieces like Man in Mirror, Queen, and others. This continuity underscores the emotional charge that color and surface have carried throughout my practice. Indoor lighting is my sunlight.
The idea of an emotional or spatial threshold runs through these works overtime. They are there for me to observe. Thresholds carry uncertainty; they mark the places where perception shifts. In their many forms, thresholds represent the coolness we encounter as we move through the world—moments where space, time, position, awareness, and feeling intersect. These figurative works inhabit that terrain, revealing the human figure as both subject and boundary - not a space framed icon.
Aspects, oil on canvas, 16x20” -year 2018
Vertical Woman, oil on canvas, 12x14” -year 1982
In The Distance (There), oil on canvas, 30x36” - 2019
Nighttime, oil on canvas, 24x30” - 2022
Woman In Mirror (Vacation), oil on canvas, 24x30” - year 2019
Youngster Fronts Blues Players, oil on canvas, 24x30” - year 2024
Man in Mirror and Head, oil on canvas, 38x48” -year 1983
Reflections, oil on canvas, 36X48” -year 1983
Back Against Hallway pastels on rag paper, 22x30” -year 1979
Man (figure) Behind Wall, oil on board, 36x48”, (sold- private collection) - year 1975
Man in Mirror, Paper and Chair, oil on canvas, 36x48” -year 1983
Inside Outside, oil on canvas, 24x30” -year 2021
She’s Ok, oil on canvas, 30x36” - year 2019
Man Figure, pencil on rag paper, 22X30” -year 1976
Woman Leaning Right, pencil on rag paper, 18x24” -year 1976
Click to see Richard Tuck’s fundamental approach to drawing that he uses when interacting with what he sees.
Compare these Figurative Works to Richard’s treatment of Everyday Objects
Woman On Bed, oil on canvas, 36x48” (sold - private collection) - year 1976
No Rest, oil on canvas, 30x36 - year 2019
Peering (Ethiopian), oil on canvas, 30x36” - year 2019
Horizontal Lying Woman, oil on canvas, 12x14” -year 1982
Woman, (Queen), oil on canvas, 32x46” - year 1983
Ivy Between Legs, oil on board, 20x24” - year 1981
Man in Mirror, oil on canvas, 36x48” -year 1983
Man’s Torso and Owl, oil on canvas, 18x24” -year 1981
Me Four Times, oil on canvas, 30x36”- year 2019
Enjoyed the Figure Works? Explore Psychological Portraits Next
“Richard Tuck’s paintings of have the cutoff composition typical of snapshots, reflecting Tuck's concerns with "what happens at the edges. He uses the comers and edges of walls, furniture and the body to construct clues to the scene without showing all of it. The thick paint and coloring of these cross the style of Wayne Thiebaud with the objective detachment of Phillip Pearlstein's nudes.” - Daily Tarheel, ‘84