"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.