Artists have always been facinated by the human body and produced figurative based art. The natural curves and features of the human body are a constant source of inspiration for many artists from Beryl Cook to Banksy. This is some thing that has spread from the art world to every magazine photoshoot in the country, so there must be a primal intrigue for humans to examine our own and other people’s bodies. Three of the top contemporary artists in this genre are Texan painter Todd White and British artists Darren Baker and Jack Vettriano, although there are major differences between their painting styles. One thing that is the same is their love for painting the human figure and in particular females.

Artist Todd White comes from Texas and has had a varied career path. He started life working in Hollywood for Warner Brothers and was part of the artistic creative team behind the SpongeBob Squarepants cartoon. This could explain the cartoon looks of the people he paints in his contemporary artwork. Todd White often features people in black clothing, socialising and drinking wine and this could be down to his location in LA. It would seem that Todd White is surrounded by Hollywood schmoozers and social climbers and from his artwork, I’d say he is not a fan.

Jack Vettriano comes from Fife in Scotland and has won a number of awards for his figurative and nude pieces. Jack Vettriano artwork have a film noir feel to them, putting many of his subjects in a 50′s style. He often features ladies in his paintings often in relaxed poses or in the middle of doing something like leaving a room through a door. Jack Vettriano often paints characters that appear distracted, many of his pieces feature people staring off into the distance or focused on some thing else.

Darren Baker is a young and very promising British artist, who has already commanded a great deal of respect from his peers. Darren Baker has received a number of awards from the art world and has private and public collections in the House of Lords and Downing Street. He has also been approached by many sports personalities to paint portraits, this is probably because he was appointed official artist of The Professional Footballer’s Association when he was 23 years old. Darren has a contemporary style that combines realism and classics and he is fond of painting figures. Darren Baker prints frequently female figures often in relaxed, seductive positions and he often uses a mix of black and red colours.