Whole Piece #26

"Whole Piece #26"
5" by 7"
Oils on Panel

Where a Painting Diverges from the Photo Reference

There can be a particular joy in painting someone or something you know well. In this case I painted this facial feature from a photo a very good friend generously submitted to the project. When I paint a subject I know, I am painting with so much knowledge, I have seen so many moods on that feature, sometimes I have seen it in afternoon light, others in morning light, or in the harsh glow of fluorescent lights, I have an understanding, a belief, an opinion that has built up under so many variables that it has complexity and I am bringing that to the painting. 

In any painting I am attempting to paint more than what is visually in front of me. Often the changes are made to convey mood, or to emphasize an aspect that was subtle in the subject. Here the photo was taken in very warm yellow lighting and that color shifted the mood of the photograph regardless of what the facial expression conveyed. I used my personal knowledge of the subject to come up with the color palette for this painting which is wholly different than the photo and simply took the shape and shadows of the nose from the photograph. I was most pleased with the final use of light purple to tie the color palette together.

Familiar Faces in Pieces

"Whole Piece #26"
Side View

In the context of the larger Whole Piece series seeing familiar features becomes a different experience. I recently laid out all the dry paintings together on a flat surface. I wanted to see if I was achieving the visual impact I had hoped for and if the careful juxtaposition of very different features could make the collection more meaningful. (I was pleased with the result, but the photo of it isn't up to snuff, so I'll have to share a better photo sometime soon.) 

Since the Whole Piece Series was inspired by facial aphasia (in which one cannot put a whole face together but only see it as disparate elements) and the common human experience of miscommunication, misreading, and over reading other's facial expressions I found that taking these individual features from people I know, even though I can picture their original context, can still lend an ambiguity to the mood or emotion they are displaying. That ambiguity that leads to thoughtfulness was what I was hoping to achieve. As these images come together as a group I hope you all will see it too. (Here is how to join in too.)

Currently

I have made some progress on the experimental piece of book art. In fact I became a bit obsessed with it the other evening, spending hours cutting out bits of text with a fine pen like exacto knife. It's curious progress will be posted soon. Whew, sleepiness loosens my jaw allowing a stream to poor out. Time for bed! Night.

"Whole Piece 7," Daily Painting # 42

"Whole Piece 7," Available (click here)

4" by 4"

Oils on Panel

Whole Piece Series

Here is the much hyped second nose painting (It was completed yesterday, but the photo disappeared! :P). The relative of the first nose painting. Today you will be seeing at least one more Whole Piece painting of the corner of a mouth(It's almost done! :)). It is exciting to see how my own impression of the facial feature and expression it shares shifts the longer I look at the feature in isolation.  (Read about the Whole Piece Series here. Join the Whole Piece series here.)

Process

For this painting I played a lot with texture. I wanted to capture the feel of the skin texture and wrinkling without going into photo realism which could be tempting when focusing on one small area for awhile. I'm happy with the mood that texture conveys here.

"Whole Piece 4," Daily Painting # 35

"Whole Piece 4," Available (click here)
5" by 7"
Oils on Panel

Process

Oh the mustache! That unruly bugger was a load of fun to paint. Capturing the abstract qualities and personality of the coarse facial hair was a new experience. I've never painted facial hair this close up, so I played with deep purple shadows and green highlights to give it playfulness. Also, what better way to spend a day than to gaze at a smile! Painting this today perked me up.

For the Whole Piece painting series I want capture how much we read from just one facial feature. I look forward to painting the wrinkles in a brow and the subtleties of how the rest of a facial expression shift the shape of a nose. Looking at just one piece of an expression makes the viewer consider what the feature expresses in a new way, or at least that is what I hope it will do.

Next

Perhaps a lovely little flower. I have the most beautiful bouquet to inspire me. (My absolutely sweet husband brought me home flowers tonight! I am all smiles about it.)

"Whole Piece 3," Daily Painting # 34

"Whole Piece 3," Available (click here)
Oils on Panel
4" by 4"

Process

I'm excited to do more of these individual feature portraits. (See this post about the Whole Piece series.) My new panels that came in give me a perfect variety of shapes and sizes to play with different feature compositions. This was the first time I've painted on a tiny 4" by 4" panel which gave this painting an intimate feeling of interaction. The subtly of lighting in this piece was a challenge to capture while still including enough value shifts to maintain an interesting compositional flow.

Whole Piece Series Plans

I want to create a large body of these pieces and I'm interested in getting as much variety of features as possible. It would be exciting to get people from around the world to contribute their photos for this series. (*crossing my fingers*) If you are interested in getting a portrait of just one of your features please send me a very clear photo of your face or that feature and if the photo works for me I'll use it for one of these paintings. There is no obligation to buy the painting.

Please email me about the Whole Piece series photographs by email at ambergoulet@yahoo.com.

"Whole Piece 1," Daily Painting # 28

"Whole Piece," Available (click here)Oils on Panel8" by 8"

Face Blindness

Yesterday I listened to Strangers in the Mirror, Radiolab (a podcast and radio show from NPR) while painting and it led me to ponder painting something inspired by people with face blindness. This morning I woke up at "the crack of dawn" determined to take photo reference of my early rising Dad before he got too busy with his day. Then I went onto to the errands of the day and finally towards the end of the day I was able to paint! I've managed to finish it just under the wire.

The podcast featured Chuck Close and Oliver Sacks, two people that inspire me and two people who have face blindness. My impressions is that for them faces are disparate elements, an expressive eye, a twitching mouth, a scrunched nose all dart through their minds but can't be seen as a whole. I wanted to give a sense of how each feature can seem odd but engaging when we concentrate on it in isolation from the rest of the face. I may do more of these individual feature paintings overtime.

Progress

I should be able to post a more accurate photo tomorrow. I pushed the color in this painting more than came out in this late night photo. But I've made it with no gaps through the first eleven days of Leslie Saeta's 30 paintings in 30 days! I feel accomplished, though a bit tired. :P :)