"Whole Piece #80"

"Whole Piece #80"
5" by 7"
Oils on Panel

Oh, this was a bundle of fun to paint! There is not much I want to say about this one because I'd rather have you just take it in. I am quite happy with the expressive brushwork emphasizing a sense of movement in this piece and with how I controlled the effect that afternoon light has on color yet kept it vibrant. The expression was quite fun to play with, as it is bold yet not obvious in meaning when focused on only the eyes.

P.S. To read more about this series visit the series profile on ArtPrize's website.

"Whole Piece #60"

"Whole Piece #60"
4" by 4"
Oils on Panel

I made it to 60 with so many distractions in recent weeks! *happy dance*

Color

I'm pleased with how the color worked out in this painting. A good portion of the skin tone is completely green, and yet there is a subtly to the end result. The painting doesn't become about that choice of green, but that green does make the painting's mood what it is.

Odd Gaze

There are so many moments of thought or interaction that we often don't portray in a painting or at least they defer to the focal point. Here I enjoy that this is the eye that, were the whole face portrayed, would be viewed secondarily to the eye that would sit closer to the viewer and that this facial expression seems more a reaction to internal thoughts rather than the result of an interaction with the person/people present.

Form

One simple attraction for me to this particular reference photo choice was the particular roundness that we can see when looking at the eye from this angle and how the shape of the iris is distorted from the angle because we are partly looking through as well as at it.

Next

I plan to paint like a mad woman for the next couple of days. Perhaps I can even sneak in a surprise gift painting. AND, I should really make time to get back to my book art project before I lose my sense of connection with it. Then an outing or two to get more reference for the Whole Piece Series. 

Whole Piece Series Cluster

Whole Piece Series Cluster of 32 Paintings
All together these are about 3' by 4.'  

Yesterday's Bumbling

I must have been a sight yesterday! I kept climbing up on chairs and step ladders craning my head around the dining room light fixture to try to get a straight on shot of these painting that were laid out on the dining room table. Finally I ended up moving the table and holding the camera up to the ceiling and taking the photos blind. Still I had to combine three photos to get all the paintings in and make it seemless in Photoshop. Hopefully next time I can hang them on a wall to get a photo (That would be sooo much easier)! :-P

This is just 32 of the current 54 total (I'm still shooting for 100). I'll have to wait for more to dry before I can get a larger grouping together. I'm excited to get some of the newer paintings in as soon as they dry because there are lots of lovely shadows, more ears, and simply more unexpected views of a face. This is the kind of layout I'm aiming for (with groupings of like features roughly where they might sit on a large face), though with a bit more space between the paintings and with more finesse.

Exciting!

Artprize is open to proposals! I've got my proposal started for the Whole Piece Series. Taking this photo was one piece of it. I need to complete my artist's profile and finish writing the project description. All this Artprize prep has meant I'm not painting as much, but I'm getting some in today. 

"Whole Piece #43"

"Whole Piece #43"
4" by 4"
Oils On Panel

Subtle Shadows

I've been trying my hand at more diffused low contrast shadows in a few of the more recent additions to the Whole Piece Series. In this case this face was back lit so that the whole face was similarly set in shadow with very little value contrast.

When I was at art college and we had a live model set up for the students to paint or draw, that model was almost always lit with high contrast between light and shadow (basically a spotlight was on them). That kind of set up is good for getting basic ideas about drawing and painting down, but there is so much more subtle experiences of light in real life that are meaningful to express in art. Another basic rule often taught is to have a full range of values in a piece of art, from the lightest light (Something similar in value to white.) to the darkest dark (Something similar in value to black.). I find myself more and more drawn to lighting that has to be expressed by breaking those formulas.

"Whole Piece #43"
Side View

So much of what we do see around us we can not fully see because of lighting and that forces us to use conjecture to create much of our understanding of the visual world and much of our understanding of our experiences. I'd like to think on that more.

Next

I'm doing a little jig, as it looks like I have a taker for the bunny portrait! I can't wait to stare at a bunny face for hours and try to suss out its mysteries. I've also got Whole Piece #53 well underway and #54's reference ready, AND I've been able to get back to the landscape on my roof as the weather has finally been cooperating! Perhaps I'll even manage some book art this evening.

The 7 Day Painting Sprint

"Whole Piece #44"
4" by 4"
Oils on Panel

The Painting Rampage: To those wishing to try this themselves I issue a warning. All the sitting and concentrating intently on painting may strain your back. :-P

I aimed very high. I aimed to get 10 paintings done in just 7 days. I guessed I wouldn't make it if anything else in my life that week didn't go as planned. No surprise, everything did not go as planned. BUT, because I had aimed to get more than one painting done a day I managed to get 9 paintings done in just 7 days, despite the fact I couldn't paint one of those days and only had a bit of time one of the other days! AND I completed #50 the very next day!

I'll be catching up on sharing the paintings as I organize the photos. Here is just a couple to wet your appetite.

"Whole Piece #49"
4" by 4"
Oils on Panel

Next

More Whole Piece Series paintings from photos I took at Grossmont College, perhaps a chance to share an in progress landscape, and prepping my Whole Piece Project proposal for a competition application (That proposal means a photo of all the dry paintings together!).



P.S. A bit of your face can be a part of the Whole Piece Series too. Read about that here.

"Whole Piece #19"

"Whole Piece #19"
5" by 7"
Oils on Panel

Intrepid Painting Experience

This was a joy to paint. I started it not long after my husband and I got back from visiting New York and the Met was still fresh in my mind. The Met reminded me of all the possibility in creating art. I saw so many approaches to creating a painting.

In this painting many ideas I had about applying one layer of paint before another, or intentionally picking up paint from previous layers, or laying in color a bit more directly, I allowed to come out. Throughout the painting process I kept thinking I had to try these ideas out as there are so many more ways I can paint and fully become myself in my art.

Next

I'm almost done with Whole Piece #36, so I'll be posting the last couple of paintings. My goal is to paint two 4" by 4" Whole Piece paintings in one day this week. I've been painting daily, but so much in life has interrupted the progress that I must gain some ground; I must exhibit fortitude. Enough grandiose declarations.

Oh, and I've started reading a book on the lost world of letter writing. When I saw the book I couldn't help thinking that blogging feels a lot like writing a letter to me. I'm not sure the book will further that connection in my mind, but it is worth exploring.

Another idea in the works! I must try one of the projects out on the new PBS online series "The Art Assignment." I just noticed they uploaded another video. I want to do every project, but I'm thinking I'll have make a tough choice and only count on doing one in the next week or two. 

"Whole Piece #30"

"Whole Piece #30"
5" by 7"
Oils on Panel

Color

I usually attempt to "push" color. I attempt to paint color that is only hinted at in reality, or that expresses a mood I want to convey rather than "local color" absolutely from what I am seeing. I definitely did play with the color here, but more subtly. I wanted that blue iris to be the show stopper, so I kept all the colors in the skin vibrant but relatively subtle because they are related.

"Whole Piece #30"
Side View

Next

I'm hoping to meet someone with a flowing beard and include that beard in the Whole Piece Series. If their beard extends off their face I could focus on it as a feature in its own right. How curious that such a dominant visual communicator could be transient. A whim could erase a beard in just a few minutes. I'd like to explore that. If you know anybody with a grand beard send them my way (my email is: ambergoulet@yahoo.com).

Soon on the Periphery

Oh! And I'm in the mood to try some art experimenting. I made one piece of altered book art in the past and thoughts about delving into it more deeply have floated into my head occasionally since. I checked out a book called Art Made From Books: Altered, Sculpted, Carved, Transformed from the library recently and even procured a discarded out of date hardback to experiment with. There were other books I wanted to play with, books that still could be useful, but guilt crept in and kept me away. I was one of those bookish kids that treated a book as sacred, I could not make one mark within its covers. Over the years I've loosened up to the point of underlining lightly in pencil. Book lovers forgive my sacrilege. :P

Whole Piece #22, 23, & 24

"Whole Piece #23"
Oils on Panel
6" by 6"

"Whole Piece #22"
Oils on Panel
5" by 7"

More Pieces

These are the three latest additions to the Whole Piece series! (You can read more about the series here.) I've made quite a jump since I last shared Whole Piece #12, so I'll be sharing the interim paintings in the next few posts. I'm still collecting photos of faces to use for this series, so feel free to contact me if you'd like to participate. My goal is to complete a minimum of 100 paintings in this series.

Inspired 

I recently visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and of many images and ideas that inspired me I especially enjoyed seeing the glorious texture and depth that I could never see in prints. I took some detail shots of the texture and brushwork, so I'll have to share that as well. 

Plans

I'm bursting with visual inspiration and a desire to do a few playful experimental paintings to pull out ideas 

and techniques from all my recent experiences. So, I have 

much to make time for; wish me luck.

Whole Piece #24
Oils on Panel
4" by 4"

"Whole Piece 11," Daily Painting # 46

"Whole Piece 11," Available (click here)
4" by 4"
Oils on Panel

If your interested in knowing more about this series visit here. Find out how you can get your facial feature painted here.

"Whole Piece 5," Daily Painting # 40

"Whole Piece 5," Available (click here)

5" by 7"

Oils on Panel

A Shadow Cast

Whole Piece 5 Side View
(Without as much glare! I must take some
 time to redo the photographs
 of so many of my paintings that
are tainted with the glare from
bright lights in night photographs.)

The moody gloriously shifting shadows in the reference for this painting drew me to more subtle brushwork than usual. I am intrigued by how subtle an eye can be. In interactions between people we focus so much on other's eyes. It is natural to spend a lot of time understanding the other person through what their eyes tell us, so we think of them as bright and full of contrast and liveliness. Here the shadows cast across the skin and over the eye are much more dramatic in contrast than the eye itself. Because this eye is in shadow I feel it draws my eye to it more, trying to understand it's subtly, trying to read the expression.

Whole Piece Series

I have gotten a few volunteers for my Whole Piece series! ( You can read about the idea and how you can join in here and here.) I believe my next piece in this series will explore a new feature. I'm interested in a few photos I have of noses and forehead wrinkles.


Adventures that Lead to Paintings

I have a trip to the zoo planned for tomorrow! I'm hoping for some splendid new reference. I must spend some time with the monkeys I think, and perhaps some colorful birds. Hopefully something will surprise and inspire me. I will not be able to paint, so I'll be playing catch up for a few days. Wish me luck. :)

"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 :)