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Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

CONTEMPORARY STYLE

Used to refer to a time rather than an aesthetic, Contemporary art generally describes pieces created after 1970 or being made by living artists anywhere in the world. This immediacy means it encompasses art responding to the present moment through diverse subjects, media and themes. Contemporary painting, sculpture, photography, performance, digital art, video and more frequently includes work that is attempting to reshape current ideas about what art can be, from Felix Gonzalez-Torres’s use of candy to memorialize a lover he lost to AIDS-related complications to Jenny Holzer’s ongoing “Truisms,” a Conceptual series that sees provocative messages printed on billboards, T-shirts, benches and other public places that exist outside of formal exhibitions and the conventional “white cube” of galleries.

Contemporary art has been pushing the boundaries of creative expression for years. Its disruption of the traditional concepts of art are often aiming to engage viewers in complex questions about identity, society and culture. In the latter part of the 20th century, contemporary movements included Land art, in which artists like Robert Smithson and Michael Heizer create large-scale, site-specific sculptures, installations and other works in soil and bodies of water; Sound art, with artists such as Christian Marclay and Susan Philipsz centering art on sonic experiences; and New Media art, in which mass media and digital culture inform the work of artists such as Nam June Paik and Rafaël Rozendaal.

The first decades of the 21st century have seen the growth of Contemporary African art, the revival of figurative painting, the emergence of street art and the rise of NFTs, unique digital artworks that are powered by blockchain technology.

Major Contemporary artists practicing now include Ai Weiwei, Cecily Brown, David Hockney, Yayoi Kusama, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami and Kara Walker.

Find a collection of Contemporary prints, photography, paintings, sculptures and other art on 1stDibs.

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Style: Contemporary
Georgian Contemporary Art by Ilia Balavadze - Untitled 7
Located in Paris, IDF
Gouache on paper Ilia Balavadze is a Georgian artist born in 1968 who lives and works in Tbilisi, Georgia. From 1987 to 1993, he studied the painting at the Tbilisi State Academy of...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Georgian Contemporary Art by Ilia Balavadze - Untitled 13
Located in Paris, IDF
Gouache on paper Ilia Balavadze is a Georgian artist born in 1968 who lives and works in Tbilisi, Georgia. From 1987 to 1993, he studied the painting at the Tbilisi State Academy of...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Georgian Contemporary Art by Ilia Balavadze - Untitled 3
Located in Paris, IDF
Gouache on paper Ilia Balavadze is a Georgian artist born in 1968 who lives and works in Tbilisi, Georgia. From 1987 to 1993, he studied the painting at the Tbilisi State Academy of...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Buongiorno Professore! - Mixed Media by Sirio Pellegrini - 1969
Located in Roma, IT
Pastel and watercolor drawing on paper realized by Sirio Pellegrini in 1960s. Very good condition. Hand signed in pencil lower right. Includes a contemporary wooden frame 108.5x84....
Category

1960s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel, Watercolor

Saturday - Figurative Watercolor Portrait Painting on Paper
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Ama Liyanage, a contemporary artist and printmaker, creates whimsical paintings from her home studio in Ontario, Canada. Each piece holds minuscule painted details waiting to be disc...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor, Paper

Women at Leisure II - Figurative Watercolor Interior Portrait Painting on Paper
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Ama Liyanage, a contemporary artist and printmaker, creates whimsical paintings from her home studio in Ontario, Canada. Each piece holds minuscule painted details waiting to be discovered, narrating stories or invoking a touch of humor for perceptive observers. This enchanting watercolor artwork on paper, featuring two women in a library, measures 22.75 inches high by 26 inches wide. The delicate brushstrokes and ethereal hues evoke a sense of whimsy. This artwork is not framed. The artist signed it on the front and back and it comes with a certificate of authenticity from the art gallery. Convenient delivery is available for those in the local Los Angeles area, and affordable worldwide shipping is available for US and international art collectors. Through her artwork, Liyanage proudly amplifies the voices of women of color, reclaiming spaces historically devoid of their representation. Drawing from her experiences as a Sri Lankan navigating colonial spaces in Canada, her art challenges one-dimensional portrayals of women of color often centered around labor. Inspired by French and Dutch Impressionist art...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

BLUE SUN original art Paula Craioveanu Nude inspired by Matisse
Located in Forest Hills, NY
“Blue Sun” Tempera pencil charcoal on blue paper Shipped rolled in a tube 25x3x3in. Drawing was originally in mat, that covered the right corner!! The lines are the result of the pre...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Tempera, Ink, Archival Paper

Elsa Peretti goes out for a drink. From the Art, culture & society series
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Movies, TV and magazines are constant source of inspiration. Fame, as fleckring and shallow it can be sometimes, is very intriguing to him. The worlds of fashion, society and pop cu...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Gouache, Ink

MB 023 (Figurative Life Drawing of Handsome Male Nude by Mark Beard)
Located in Hudson, NY
Academic life drawing of male nude with charcoal and graphite by Mark Beard, "MB 023" graphite, Conte crayon and charcoal on Arches paper 30.5 x 17.5 inches unframed Signed, lower le...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Conté, Charcoal, Archival Paper, Graphite

Beaches in Cap Skiring No.2 by Calo Carratalá - Pencil, Senegal, trees, river
Located in Paris, FR
Beaches in Cap Skiring No.2 is a unique oil pencil on cardboard, glued on wooden frame drawing by contemporary artist Calo Carratalá, dimensions are 80 × 139 × 4 cm (31.5 × 54.7 × 1....
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Wood Panel, Cardboard, Pencil

Penny Stars and Clouds (Matisse Inspired Drawing on Collaged Vintage Book Pages)
Located in Hudson, NY
Penny Stars and Clouds (Matisse-like Drawing on Collaged Vintage Book Pages) by Louise Laplante 2024 pastel and collaged vintage Penny Magazines and chalk 23.75 x 24.50 inches unfram...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Chalk, Pastel

One Two KO, America Martin, Ink on Paper, Black + White/ Figurative, Boxer
Located in 326 N Coast Hwy. | Laguna Beach, CA
America Martin "One Two KO" Ink and Acrylic on Paper 26" x 19" 32" x 25” Framed In a distinct style that is both figurative and abstract, gestural and deliberate, America Martin rev...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Acrylic, Archival Paper

MB 085A (Contemporary Life Drawing of Nude Male by Mark Beard)
Located in Hudson, NY
Academic life drawing of male nude with charcoal and graphite by Mark Beard, "MB 085A" graphite, Conte crayon and charcoal on Arches paper 30 x 18.5 inches unframed Signed, lower rig...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Conté, Charcoal, Archival Paper, Graphite

Figure Drawing by Mark Beard (Stoic, Muscular Male Nude Charcoal Life Drawing)
Located in Hudson, NY
Academic life drawing of male nude with charcoal and graphite by Mark Beard graphite, Conte crayon and charcoal on Arches paper 30 x 19.5 inches unframed Signed, lower left Strong f...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Conté, Charcoal, Archival Paper, Graphite

MB 702 (Contemporary Life Drawing of Male Nude by Mark Beard)
Located in Hudson, NY
MB 702 (Contemporary Life Drawing of Male Nude by Mark Beard) graphite, Conte crayon and charcoal on Arches paper 30 x 19 inches unframed Con...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Conté, Charcoal, Archival Paper, Graphite

Georgian Contemporary Art by Ilia Balavadze - Untitled 12
Located in Paris, IDF
Gouache on paper Ilia Balavadze is a Georgian artist born in 1968 who lives and works in Tbilisi, Georgia. From 1987 to 1993, he studied the painting at the Tbilisi State Academy of...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Georgian Contemporary Art by Ilia Balavadze - Untitled 5
Located in Paris, IDF
Gouache on paper Ilia Balavadze is a Georgian artist born in 1968 who lives and works in Tbilisi, Georgia. From 1987 to 1993, he studied the painting at the Tbilisi State Academy of...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Georgian Contemporary Art by Ilia Balavadze - Untitled 15
Located in Paris, IDF
Gouache on paper Ilia Balavadze is a Georgian artist born in 1968 who lives and works in Tbilisi, Georgia. From 1987 to 1993, he studied the painting at the Tbilisi State Academy of...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Marcita by African American Artist Bai, Colorful Painting on Paper
Located in New york, NY
A colorful acrylic and oil pastel Picassoesque portrait of a woman with a daisy tiara, Marcita, 2025 by African American artist Bai is 15” x 11” drawing/painting on watercolor paper...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Acrylic, Oil Pastel, Rag Paper

MB 827 (Contemporary Life Drawing of Two Nude Males by Mark Beard)
Located in Hudson, NY
Academic life drawing of two nude males with charcoal and graphite by Mark Beard, "MB 827" graphite, Conte crayon and charcoal on Arches paper 29.75 x 21.75 inches unframed Signed, l...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Conté, Charcoal, Archival Paper, Graphite

Pat Buckley leaving town. From The Art, culture & society Series
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Movies, TV and magazines are constant source of inspiration. Fame, as fleckring and shallow it can be sometimes, is very intriguing to him. The worlds of fashion, society and pop cu...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink, Watercolor, Gouache

Within- 21st Century Contemporary Charcoal Drawing of a girl with braids
Located in Nuenen, Noord Brabant
Rosanna Gaddoni 'Within' 66 x 48 cm Charcoal and graphite on Rives Arches Paper 175 gm2 crème white Framed the size is 80 x 60 cm ( Frame is included...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Charcoal, Laid Paper

MB 018 (Figurative Life Drawing of Handsome Male Nude by Mark Beard)
Located in Hudson, NY
Academic life drawing of male nude with charcoal and graphite by Mark Beard, "MB 018" graphite, Conte crayon and charcoal on Arches paper 30 x 19 inches unframed Signed, lower right ...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Conté, Charcoal, Archival Paper, Graphite

Seated Female Nude
Located in Astoria, NY
Roger Hilton (British, 1911-1975), Seated Female Nude, Charcoal on Paper, apparently unsigned, cerused wood frame. Image: 10" H x 8" W; frame: 16.5" H x 14" W. Provenance: Jonathan C...
Category

Late 20th Century Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Charcoal

Treesong (Contemporary, Realist Charcoal Landscape Drawing by Sue Bryan)
Located in Hudson, NY
Treesong (Contemporary, Realist Charcoal Landscape Drawing by Sue Bryan) 18 x 24 x 2 inches Charcoal and acrylic on Primed Arches Paper Mounted on Wood Panel Excellent condition, Ready to hang as is This contemporary charcoal landscape drawing on arches paper was completed in 2021 by Sue Bryan. Born in Ireland, the artist uses landscapes from her childhood as inspiration for her current work primarily consisting of beautifully detailed charcoal drawings of trees and wooded landscapes. The artist captures exquisite detail and luminous light with the mere use of black and white charcoal and carbon pencil. The artist creates this tree through a blend of light and shadow that demonstrates the artist's masterful technique. Dark leaves and winding branches in black charcoal contrast elegantly against a light filled sky. There is sturdy wire installed on the back for easy hanging. Artist Statement: "My work is drawing based. As a native of Ireland, the landscape there has certainly shaped and influenced my own history. Many of my drawings are of places that have a deep personal association for me; an endeavor perhaps to stay connected to my roots. My aim is not only to convey a sense of place and belonging, but also an attempt to capture the ineffable, to evoke a feeling or a memory, to invite the viewer to look beyond and beneath what they see. My process is one of building up tones and textures using a combination of charcoal, carbon and graphite, all of which yield a wonderful range of blacks and grays that vary in density and transparency as much as in tonality. Much of drawing’s appeal to me lies in its very constraint, in its simplification, in the reduction of nature’s macrocosm to the coal-black char of organic matter. For me, the act of drawing is an end in itself." About the work: A native of Ireland, Sue Bryan explores the memories of youth rooted in her homeland's landscape. Employing charcoal on both paper and panel, these moody and misty studies reminds us that the water-locked terrain is not always sunny and green. Exquisite detail found in each tree branch or mass of tall grasses lining the horizon dominates the foreground. Light emulates from the background attempting to penetrate the density of opaque cloud cover. Bryan's small scale drawings convey an intimate and highly personal sense of place and belonging. SELECTED EXHIBITIONS 2019 'A Quiet Respite", Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY 2018 'DRAWN',5th Annual International Exhibition of Contemporary Drawing, Manifest Gallery, OH 2018 'On Paper - An Exhibition of Drawings', Florence Academy of Art, NJ 2018 'MONOCHROME', Bo.Lee Gallery, London 2017 'Arboreal', Manifest Gallery, OH 2017 'Hudson Valley Landscapes', Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY 2017 'Affordable Art Fair, Battersea, London, October 2017 'A Long Way from Home', Bo.Lee Gallery, London 2017 187th Annual Exhibition, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin, Ireland 2017 'Palette', Abend Gallery, Denver, CO 2017 'Summer Exhibit', Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, New York 2017 'Exquisite Abandon : Contemporary Miniature Works', Laguna College of Art & Design 2017 8th Annual Drawing Discourse, University of North Carolina Ashville 2017 'Small is Beautiful', Le Salon Vert, Geneva Switzerland 2016 'Smart Dust', Group Show, Sla307, 307 West 30th Street, New York, NY 2016 'Inside Outside', Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY 2016 7th Annual Drawing Discourse, S Tucker Cooke Gallery, University of North Carolina Asheville 2016 186th Annual Exhibition, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin, Ireland 2016 DRAWN, 3rd Annual International Exhibition of Contemporary Drawing, Manifest Gallery, OH 2016 'Summer Group Invitational', George Billis Gallery, NYC 2015 'Radical Inventions', Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY 2015 'Strange Paradise', First Street Gallery's National Juried Exhibition, Juror Steven Harvey 2015 185th Annual Exhibition, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin, Ireland 2015 'DRAWN' 2nd Annual International Exhibition of Contemporary Drawing, Manifest Gallery 2015 7th Annual Juried Exhibition, Prince Street Gallery, NYC, Juror Robert Berlind 2015 Bradley International Print & Drawing Exhibition, Heuser Art Center, IL, Juror Beth Grabowski 2015 'Interactive Lines' Small Group Invitational, Cabarrus Arts Council, Condor, NC 2014 ‘Regarding the Sublime’, Small Group Invitational, North Park University, IL 2014 27th Northern National Art Competition, Nicolet College Art Gallery 2014 184th Annual Exhibition, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin, Ireland 2014 'DRAWN’ 1st Annual International Exhibition of Contemporary Drawing, Manifest Gallery 2014 POP-UP : On and Off the Wall, Series 2, Invited Artist, First Street Gallery, NYC 2014 5th Drawing Discourse, University of North Carolina, Asheville, Juror Tim Lowly 2013 VISTA [landscape in contemporary art], National Juried Show, Manifest Gallery 2013 Marks, A National Juried Drawing Exhibition, Madelon Powers Art Gallery, East Stroudsburg University, PA 2013 American Art Today : Figures, The Bascom, A Center for Visual Art, Juror Jonathan Stuhlman 2013 First Street Gallery's National Juried Exhibition, Juror Donald Kuspit 2013 4th Annual Drawing Discourse, S Tucker Cooke Gallery, University of North Carolina, Asheville, Juror Susan Hauptman 2012 Fort Wayne Museum of Art Contemporary Realism Biennial, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Juror Frank Bernarducci 2012 25th Northern National Art Competition, Nicolet College Art Gallery, Juror Sarah McKenzie 2011 Salmagundi Annual Non-Member Open Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, NYC 2011 33rd Bradley International Print & Drawing Exhibition, Juror Robert E Marx
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Charcoal, Acrylic, Wood Panel, Archival Paper

"Some far away speech" Still life, Ink and watercolor
By Brian Spolans
Located in Philadelphia, PA
"Some far away speech" is an original ink and watercolor work on paper by Brian Spolans. The piece ships framed as pictured and measures 20.5in x 28.5in. Alternative custom framing...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Watercolor, Archival Paper

Grazing Horse - Oil Paint by Sirio Pellegrini - 1960s
Located in Roma, IT
Oil pastel on paper realized by Sirio Pellegrini in 1960s. Very good condition. Includes a coeval wooden frame cm. 52x61.5. Sirio Pellegrini, born in Rome on March 1, 1922, of Abr...
Category

1960s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Oil Pastel, Laid Paper

Duchándome en Cuerpo Ajeno May 30th. Watercolor and ink on paper
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Duchándome en cuerpo Ajeno May 30th, by Celso Castro-Daza From the Duchándome Series Watercolor and ink on paper Image size: 19.5 in. H x 13.75 in. W Unframed ____________ Undefined by medium, Celso Castro’s works each carry the presence of the artist’s hand through the transparency of their process. Castro’s oeuvre is strongly divided between his photomontage assemblies and watercolor paintings: the prior is marked by the labor-intensive deconstruction of portrait photographs and the latter, by the seemingly frenzied recreation of a past encounter rendered in the drips and scribbles of paint and ink. Both discriminating in what they reveal of the subject, his photomontage and watercolor portraits exude raw sexuality through the combination of Castro’s mark-making and gaze. Celso Castro’s work is a bare-bulb erotic photo foray into the underbelly of Colombia’s drug world. Castro’s labor-intensive, photo-collage works of drug kingpins, smugglers, hitmen, countrymen, street vendors, soldiers, paramilitaries, kidnappers, and pimps pose showing with pride their erect penises...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Archival Ink, Watercolor, Archival Paper

Untitled- Penis. Aquacolor Crayon on archival paper
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Untitled- Penis by Celso Castro-Daza Aquacolor Crayon on archival paper Image size: 48 in. H x 39.5 in. W Sheet size: 59.5 in. H x 44 in. W Unique 1996 Drawing on paper is his bas...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Archival Paper, Crayon, Watercolor

Georgian Contemporary Art by Ilia Balavadze - Untitled 2
Located in Paris, IDF
Gouache on paper Ilia Balavadze is a Georgian artist born in 1968 who lives and works in Tbilisi, Georgia. From 1987 to 1993, he studied the painting at the Tbilisi State Academy of...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Georgian Contemporary Art by Ilia Balavadze - Untitled 9
Located in Paris, IDF
Gouache on paper Ilia Balavadze is a Georgian artist born in 1968 who lives and works in Tbilisi, Georgia. From 1987 to 1993, he studied the painting at the Tbilisi State Academy of...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Georgian Contemporary Art by Ilia Balavadze - Untitled 4
Located in Paris, IDF
Gouache on paper Ilia Balavadze is a Georgian artist born in 1968 who lives and works in Tbilisi, Georgia. From 1987 to 1993, he studied the painting at the Tbilisi State Academy of...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Indian Motorcycle, Original Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
A rider halts on a dirt track, possibly appreciating the scenery around him. Fueled by his passion for motorcycle racing in his twenties, artist Thomas Hoerbe...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Worker - Watercolor by Sirio Pellegrini - 1960s
Located in Roma, IT
Watercolor on paper realized by Sirio Pellegrini in 1960s. Hand signed. Includes a tailor made frame realized by the Artist, 108.5x84.5 cm. Very good condition. Sirio Pellegrini,...
Category

1960s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Paris Night 2 by Guillaume Chansarel - Urban landscape painting, Paris, city
Located in Paris, FR
Paris Night 2 is a unique drawing by French contemporary artist Guillaume Chansarel. The drawing is made with ink and acrylic on kraft paper, dimensions are 28 × 36 cm (11 × 14.2 in)...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Acrylic, Paper

Becca (Small Grey Mixed-Media Portrait of Woman w/ White Polka Dots by Ransome)
Located in Hudson, NY
Grey portrait of woman with white polka dots and a swath of green collaged media "Becca" by Ransome 2023 graphite, acrylic and collage on panel 8 x 8 x 2 inches, unframed Piece can b...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Acrylic, Graphite

In Ralph Lauren in the Hamptons.
Located in Miami Beach, FL
The artist has covered New York collections for over 16 years and has interviewed, as a journalist, several fashion designers and personalities for different publications. He loves t...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Charcoal, Gouache

Jean Michel Basquiat Portrait. From the Series Maestros
Located in Miami Beach, FL
From the Series Maestro Jean Michel Basquiat, 2017 Watercolor, pencil on paper Size: 50 H x 45 W cm framed size 70 H x 62 W x 4 D cm Unique Wood frame ______ Emerson Cáceres, artis...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor, Archival Paper, Pencil

Pensando & recordando a Luis Caballero, Nude Watercolor on paper
Located in Miami Beach, FL
"Pensando & recordando a Luis Caballero" by Celso Castro-Daza From the Duchándome Series Watercolor, pastel, and ink on archival paper Sheet size: 19.5 ...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel, Archival Ink, Watercolor, Archival Paper

By Alessandro Michele for Valentino. From the Fashion series
Located in Miami Beach, FL
The artist has covered New York collections for over 16 years and has interviewed, as a journalist, several fashion designers and personalities for different publications. He loves t...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink, Watercolor

Water (Dolphin Spirit), 2017, figurative, blue, drawing, tribal, MarYah
Located in Jersey City, NJ
China marker on smooth bristol paper. Jay Golding’s realistic portrait and figure drawings/paintings are inspired primarily by Indigenous culture and heritage but are not limited to...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Permanent Marker

Pink Flamingo Venus
Located in Jersey City, NJ
Pink Flamingo Venus, 2020, watercolor, ink, and salt on Arches paper. Venus of Willendorf, fertility goddess, pink, black, and white.
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Ink, Watercolor

Lounging III - Figurative Watercolor Nude Portrait Painting on Paper
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Ama Liyanage, a contemporary artist and printmaker, creates whimsical paintings from her home studio in Ontario, Canada. Each piece holds minuscule painted details waiting to be disc...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Red Baobab by Calo Carratalá - Large drawing on wood, tree red, Africa, Tanzania
Located in Paris, FR
Red Baobab is a unique Conte pencil Sanguina on laminated wood drawing by contemporary artist Calo Carratalá, dimensions are 293 × 295 cm (115.4 × 116.1 in). The artwork is signed, ...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Wood, Paper, Pencil, Graphite

Nocturne - 21st Century Contemporary Charcoal Drawing of a Nude Woman
Located in Nuenen, Noord Brabant
Rosanna Gaddoni (Italian artist) Nocturne 65 x 50 cm ( framed in wood frame with museum glass) Measurement with included frame: 80 x 65 x 3 cm Charcoal on Paper The Italian artist R...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Charcoal

Landscape - Mixed Media by Sirio Pellegrini - 1960s
Located in Roma, IT
Watercolor on paper realized by Sirio Pellegrini in 1960s. Hand signed lower right. Includes a wooden frame 36x27 cm. Very good condition. Sirio Pellegrini, born in Rome on March...
Category

1960s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel, Watercolor

Georgian Contemporary Art by Ilia Balavadze - Untitled 11
Located in Paris, IDF
Gouache on paper Ilia Balavadze is a Georgian artist born in 1968 who lives and works in Tbilisi, Georgia. From 1987 to 1993, he studied the painting at the Tbilisi State Academy of...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Georgian Contemporary Art by Ilia Balavadze - Untitled 10
Located in Paris, IDF
Gouache on paper Ilia Balavadze is a Georgian artist born in 1968 who lives and works in Tbilisi, Georgia. From 1987 to 1993, he studied the painting at the Tbilisi State Academy of...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Georgian Contemporary Art by Ilia Balavadze - Untitled 6
Located in Paris, IDF
Gouache on paper Ilia Balavadze is a Georgian artist born in 1968 who lives and works in Tbilisi, Georgia. From 1987 to 1993, he studied the painting at the Tbilisi State Academy of...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Politych Duchándome Series, Watercolor, Ink on Paper, 2018
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Duchándome, May 22nd / Duchandose, May 27th-Duchandome/Duchandome En Cuerpo Ajeno 2018 by Celso Castro-Daza From the Duchándome Series Watercolor and ink on an archival paper Individual size: 19.5 in. H x 13.75 in. W Overall Size: 39 in. H x 27.5 in. W Both works are one of a kind Unframed Drawing on paper is his basic work tool, some are sketches of his surviving works, others are sketches of moments he documents. ____________ Undefined by medium, Celso Castro’s works each carry the presence of the artist’s hand through the transparency of their process. Castro’s oeuvre is strongly divided between his photomontage assemblies and watercolor paintings: the prior is marked by the labor-intensive deconstruction of portrait photographs and the latter, by the seemingly frenzied recreation of a past encounter rendered in the drips and scribbles of paint and ink. Both discriminating in what they reveal of the subject, his photomontage and watercolor portraits exude raw sexuality through the combination of Castro’s mark-making and gaze. Celso Castro’s work is a bare-bulb erotic photo foray into the underbelly of Colombia’s drug world. Castro’s labor-intensive, photo-collage works of drug kingpins, smugglers, hitmen, countrymen, street vendors, soldiers, paramilitaries, kidnappers, and pimps pose showing with pride their erect penises...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Archival Ink, Watercolor, Archival Paper

Waterlilies V (Contemporary Horizontal Pencil Drawing of Abstract Flowers)
Located in Hudson, NY
Waterlilies V: Modern, Abstracted Pencil Drawing of Flowers (Waterlilies) graphite drawing on paper Paper size: 16 x 35 inches This grap...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Graphite

MB 824 (Double-Sided Figure Drawing of Handsome Nude Men by Mark Beard)
Located in Hudson, NY
Figurative, academic style life drawing of male nude with charcoal and graphite by Mark Beard, "MB 824" graphite, Conte crayon and charcoal on Arches paper 30.5 x 21 inches unframed ...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Conté, Charcoal, Archival Paper, Graphite

"Composition #17", Mixed Media Figure Drawing on Stretched Canvas with Collage
Located in St. Louis, MO
Joseph Piccillo’s meticulous charcoal and graphite drawings and paintings reveal an exquisite draftsmanship tempered by emotional sensitivity. Piccillo presents an action-based assem...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Canvas, Charcoal, Varnish, Mixed Media, Pencil

Untitled (Standing Male Nude with Ropes and Arm Band)
Located in New York, NY
James Childs (1945-2020) Untitled (Standing Male Nude with Ropes and Arm Band) 2010 Signed and dated, l.l. Graphite and pastel crayon on paper 30.5 x 22 inches $3,125
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Pastel, Graphite

Jose el velezolano, Sabado 25 de junio. Figurative Drawing
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Jose el velezolano Sabado 25 de junio, 2016 by Celso Castro Crayon and pastel on cardboard Image size: 40 H in. x 29 in. W Unframed ____________ Undefined by medium, Celso Castro’s...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Crayon, Pastel, Cardboard

Spirit of Youth, Watercolor and Pastel Drawing by Will Barnet
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Will Barnet, American (1911 - 2012) Title: Spirit of Youth Year: circa 1980 Medium: Watercolor and Pastel on Paper, signed and dedicated Size: 11 in. x 7.5 in. (27.94 cm ...
Category

1970s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel, Watercolor

Spring Bloom, Large Colorful Floral Watercolor by Gary Bukovnik
Located in Long Island City, NY
Gary Bukovnik, American (1947 -) - Spring Bloom, Year: 1983, Medium: Watercolor on Paper, signed and dated in pencil lower right, Size: 45 x 71 in. (114.3 x 180.34 cm), Frame Size...
Category

1980s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor

Georgian Contemporary Art by Eter Merkviladze - Flamingos
Located in Paris, IDF
Gouache on a watercolor paper Eter Merkviladze is a Georgian female artist born in 1999 who lives and works in Tbilisi, Georgia. She was graduated from Robert Schuman European Schoo...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor, Gouache

Knitting - Pencil Drawing by Ildebrando Urbani Del Fabretto - 1932
Located in Roma, IT
Knitting is an original drawing in pencil on ivory-colored paper, realized in 1932 by Ildebrando Urbani Del Fabretto. Hand-signed on the lower right. The state of preservation of t...
Category

1930s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pencil

"Boys on Blue Bed II" Dark Blue Toned Sensual Homoerotic Figurative Watercolor
Located in Houston, TX
Dark blue toned homoerotic figurative watercolor painting by contemporary Houston, Texas artist Steve Louis. The work features two nude men stretched out o...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Watercolor, Paper

"Flower 1" Graphite Drawing
By Lindsay Payton
Located in Houston, TX
Black and white graphite drawing of a dropping flower. The artist signed the print and titled it. It is framed in a black frame with a white matte. Dimensions without Frame: H 11 in ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Graphite

Georgian Contemporary Art by Ilia Balavadze - Untitled 14
Located in Paris, IDF
Gouache on paper Ilia Balavadze is a Georgian artist born in 1968 who lives and works in Tbilisi, Georgia. From 1987 to 1993, he studied the painting at the Tbilisi State Academy of...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Georgian Contemporary Art by Ilia Balavadze - Untitled 8
Located in Paris, IDF
Gouache on paper Ilia Balavadze is a Georgian artist born in 1968 who lives and works in Tbilisi, Georgia. From 1987 to 1993, he studied the painting at the Tbilisi State Academy of...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Georgian Contemporary Art by Ilia Balavadze - Untitled 1
Located in Paris, IDF
Gouache on paper Ilia Balavadze is a Georgian artist born in 1968 who lives and works in Tbilisi, Georgia. From 1987 to 1993, he studied the painting at the Tbilisi State Academy of...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Gouache

Fred Hughes and Diana Vreeland in New York, Ink and Watercolor on paper
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Movies, TV and magazines are constant source of inspiration. Fame, as fleckring and shallow it can be sometimes, is very intriguing to him. The worlds of fashion, society and pop cu...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor, Ink

The Boys- Penis. Carbon Pencil on archival paper
Located in Miami Beach, FL
The Boys by Celso Castro-Daza Carbon Pencil on archival paper Image size: 47.5 in. H x 39 in. W Sheet size: 59 in. H x 42.5 in. W Unique 1996 Drawing on paper is his basic work to...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Archival Paper, Black and White, Carbon Pencil

Pedro Pablo, Figurative Drawing
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Pedro Pablo 1998, by Celso Castro Black crayon on archival paper Image size: 40 H in. x 48 in. W Sheet size: 45 H in. x 59 in. W Unframed ____________ U...
Category

1990s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Crayon, Archival Paper

MODERN EVE - nude by Paula Craioveanu - original art ultramarine blue
Located in Forest Hills, NY
Part of my Nude series, inspired by Matisse. Ultramarine tempera on paper. Shipped rolled in a tube. Shipping anywhere in the world. Registered airmail. This piece, Modern Eve, is a striking and expressive work that beautifully captures the essence of Matisse’s influence while maintaining its own contemporary voice. The use of ultramarine tempera on paper creates a dynamic interplay between form and negative space, with the vivid blue standing out against the warm, neutral background. The loose, fluid brushstrokes give the figure an organic, almost spontaneous energy, reminiscent of Matisse’s Blue Nudes series. The dripping paint and gestural lines evoke a sense of movement, reinforcing the sensuality of the pose. The arching posture of the figure conveys ecstasy or release, with an elongated, exaggerated form that enhances emotional intensity. The simplification of anatomy aligns with Fauvist principles—prioritizing emotional impact over precise realism. The choice of ultramarine is bold and effective. It has historical significance in art, often associated with spirituality and depth (as seen in Yves Klein’s monochromes), yet here it is used in a raw, expressive manner that makes the figure feel both powerful and ethereal. The use of tempera adds a unique opacity and depth to the strokes. It gives the painting a sense of immediacy, as if the artist captured the moment in a burst of inspiration. The visible brushwork and drips make the process part of the final aesthetic, reinforcing a connection between artist and viewer. The clear homage to Henri Matisse’s Blue Nude series is well-executed but doesn’t feel derivative—it builds upon his legacy while pushing it forward. The sensual yet modern representation of the female body echoes the freedom of early 20th-century modernists but with a contemporary edge. The piece also recalls the expressive, raw energy of Egon Schiele’s linework, albeit with a more fluid and painterly approach. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Artist Statement "I started by painting interiors, being interested in space and perspective through my studies. These scenes evolved, when I added the human figure. I focused more on the human figure and its relation to the background. The human figure is more present than ever in my paintings now. As a woman artist I’ve been preoccupied with the female form and its imagery. One of my goals was to capture the solitary moments and the nude’s relation to the surrounding space. My interest turned from depicting the space to rendering the atmosphere and the scene as a whole, the feeling a woman adds to the environment: warmth, desire, joy, a feeling of power and control, or the opposite – sadness, despair. Here is a collection of figurative paintings, exploring the nudes in interior spaces, seeing the nudes from my perspective, as a woman artist, considering the physical and spiritual realities of a woman’s body, in a new level of intimacy. My paintings are the opposite of objectifying a woman’s or a man’s anatomy. Painted works, featuring female nudes and a also men nudes, in a reversal of the male-artist/female-muse pattern, validate the feminine experience, defining myself through it. I was interested in how one experiences the body in a sensual form, and later focused on my own body, as I experience it myself, looking into the mirror and reconnecting. My work challenges the tradition of the nude by capturing my point of view, the gaze of a female painter, by using photography, drawings, sketches, and painting on canvas, for, both physical and psychological exploration. My art tries to create a visual language for emotion, beauty, feelings of intimacy and in the same time autonomy, captured with paint and vivid colors. My intense interest in color and the gestures of the brush strokes are the means I see and convey the subjects in space, as living, passionate beings." Paula Craioveanu
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Tempera

Landscape - Mixed media on paper by Sirio Pellegrini - 1971
Located in Roma, IT
Tempera, white lead  and watercolor on paper realized by Sirio Pellegrini in 1950s. Hand signed. Includes a wooden frame realized by the Artist cm. 78.5x58.5
Category

1950s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Mixed Media

CENTAUR with ARCH - original large art by Paula Craioveanu - New Mythology
Located in Forest Hills, NY
Centaur with Arch 100x70cm / 30x27in ink, graphite, tempera on paper large size, shipped rolled in a tube directly from the artist's studio Antiquity is an endless inspiration res...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Tempera, Pencil

Rick Owens Hollywood show. From the Fashion series
Located in Miami Beach, FL
The artist has covered New York collections for over 16 years and has interviewed, as a journalist, several fashion designers and personalities for different publications. He loves t...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Pencil, Gouache

A man in white sneakers . 2022. Paper/pen, 19.4x14.8 cm
Located in Riga, LV
A man in white sneakers 2022. Paper/pen, 19.4x14.8 cm Liga Kalnina Artist Liga Kalnina(1990) is born in Riga, Latvia. Her artist interests is mainly realistically based -landscap...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Gel Pen

Figure III - Figurative Abstract Watercolor Nude Portrait Painting on Paper
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Ama Liyanage, a contemporary artist and printmaker, creates whimsical paintings from her home studio in Ontario, Canada. Each piece holds minuscule painted details waiting to be disc...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

Contemporary figurative drawings and watercolors for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Contemporary figurative drawings and watercolors available for sale on 1stDibs. Works in this style were very popular during the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artists have continued to produce works inspired by this movement. If you’re looking to add figurative drawings and watercolors created in this style to introduce contrast in an otherwise neutral space in your home, the works available on 1stDibs include elements of blue, purple, orange, yellow and other colors. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including Leo Guida, Luis Miguel Valdes , Reginald K. Gee, and Renato Garza Cervera. Frequently made by artists working with Paper, and Paint and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Contemporary figurative drawings and watercolors, so small editions measuring 1.25 inches across are also available. Prices for figurative drawings and watercolors made by famous or emerging artists can differ depending on medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $60 and tops out at $70,894, while the average work sells for $907.

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