A P.S. of Sorts: Whole Piece #101

Whole Piece #101
5" by 7"
Oils on Panel

#101

This is the subject that I couldn't resist adding to the series before ArtPrize. There was something so very interesting in the roundness of the forms, the warmth of the colors, and the subtly of that small frown that was wholly different and needed in the series.

Must Do and Do Some More

It is now time to deal with all the crazy last minute details in prep for ArtPrize. The final layout, fine tune hanging technique, the creation of many many bubblewrap pockets, the final decision on the shipping container/method with several options still viable, getting good photos of every painting.... and the list goes on. Wish me luck in these last 10 days before I fly to Grand Rapids for ArtPrize. (Can you sense the nervous energy?)

Also, the official vote code is on my ArtPrize page! 'Tis exciting for it to be so concrete. If you'll be in the area or are thinking about visiting ArtPrize I hope you think of me and this series.

"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 #36"

"Whole Piece #36"
4" by 4"
Oils on Panel

"Oh, I do love to extemporize with color..."

This is a bit of a throwback by now in the series, but I felt it was a good time to share it now. The skin tone in this painting was a joy to play with. All the warm analogous colors from varying shades of orange to deep muted red brown (and, of course, I snuck in some bits of other color to help show off in contrast the orange family). I wish I had taken a picture of my palette as it was rich vibrant and inviting. Today's painting was such a contrast to this one, with a focus on a cool palette. I'll be sharing "Whole Piece #64" tomorrow and it'll be nice to see these two paintings next to one another to see how much variety in hue from warm to cool can be shown in human skin (and hair).

For now I'm stopping myself from writing anymore. I'm too tired to share my mental rambling any further.  More painting and blogging tomorrow. 'Tis an exciting prospect. Night.

"Whole Piece #56"

"Whole Piece #56"
4" by 4"
Oils on Panel

Earprints

Okay, I knew everybody had unique ears. From my long time enjoyment of British mystery series I believe I once heard that ear prints are as unique as thumb prints. But, I had never thought much about the form of the ears of each person I met, unless of course they were yelling at me to get attention with multitudes of earrings, a humongous plug or large hole where a plug usually lived, were rather over-sized, or stood out more than usual, etc.. But in sifting through photo reference for this series I find myself curious if anybody has a boring or "normal" ear, there is so much variety, many more people have elfish ears than I expected and the lobes go from smooth and pillowy to mountainous. So, if you ever meet me and you catch me staring at the side of your head, you'll know why.

P.S. I just finished my third infant feature for the Whole Piece Series. I'm excited to share the pout soon. 

"Whole Piece #57"

"Whole Piece #57"
6" by 6"
Oils on Panel

First Phase:
The gessoed surfaced is toned and
a simple layout is worked out
with rough line and a bit of value.

Second Phase:
Darkest darks are roughly laid in and the
lights are placed though lightest lights are
reserved for later. Attention is placed on these
early steps to the angle and character of the
brushwork that sets the painting going.

Third Phase:
Adding subtly in value and brushwork and
bringing lights and darks to meet directly.

Finished

"Whole Piece #17"

"Whole Piece #17"
5" by 7"
Oils on Panel

I'm Drawn to Noses

There is something about painting a nose that makes me think of a person's strength or pride. Perhaps it is that a nose boldly sits in the middle of a face buttressed by an internal structure allowing it to strongly project itself into the world. If I am not careful I could easily be drawn into making this a series of noses. :D Here I enjoyed bringing out the personality of this nose by slightly exaggerating it's lines (There is a bit more of a curve to the bridge of the painted nose than in real life.) and by pushing the color into a vibrant range.

Progression of a Series

Looking back at this particular part of the Whole Piece Series from last Fall and a couple of others I haven't posted yet makes me want to get back to this vibrant color range in more of the series. Though I still want the palette of these individual pieces to reflect what works best for each individual. 'Tis an interesting challenge in cohesion.

Next

Well, I haven't painted since thursday afternoon because I threw out my back while painting. :P So! I believe I am almost ready to venture in my painting world again. :)


P.S. You can have your facial feature painted too. Join in 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 #33"

"Whole Piece #32"
5" by 7"
Oils on Panel

A Beard!

My wish came true! A most generous soul allowed me to paint his beard for the Whole Piece Series. (Actually I may even have another beard or two to paint...) Now, I do have a couple of other paintings where a beard surrounds the focal feature, but in this piece I was able to share a beard as a feature on its own.

What power to have at your disposal to be male and add a whole element to your face, to shape it, to imagine how it will remind others of a certain kind of person: a hipster, an animated character, a distinguished person, a mountain man, this list flows on in my head. We do this in every way we present ourselves, but I believe the act of growing a beard holds a special boldness. Yes, women alter their appearance with makeup, sometimes dramatically, but they do not add a feature wholly and sculpt it as they desire it. (Perhaps I should include all facial hair to this particularly special place. Oh, I would be very pleased to meet someone with Mutton chops... and if they were generous enough to share a photo... oh that would be lovely.)

(Join in, especially if you have mutton chops.)

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 #31

"Whole Piece #31"
5" by 7"
Oils on Panel

"Whole Piece #31"
Side View

A Bold Endeavor  

(Well, bold in my life experience anyway. ;))

This is the first of many paintings in the Whole Piece Series that I'll be painting as a result of walking up to a perfect stranger and asking if I could take their picture. (Join in too.)

I had a plan: I would go to Grossmont College and bug strangers, I would be intrepid, I would communicate the human need for art and thus create a desire for these strangers to participate in creating art. (This would have had to have been with mental telepathy because eloquent words were not coming to me as I prepared.) 

What I actually did for quite a while was wander around looking at people intently not believing it was possible to just walk up to a stranger and ask a favor of them, and of course, I had the excuse of posting flyers about the series around the campus as I did. :P 

In the end I did it! Many people were quite generous and good natured about it (I may even do it again...). Of course I hit up several art students in the art area of campus, and that is where I met the subject of this painting. I hope she sees the painting and enjoys it. Thanks very much for collaborating with me! :) 

If anybody else from Grossmont is checking out the blog, I'll be painting randomly from the photos I took for the next couple of weeks, so keep an eye out, and a hearty thanks.

Next

I'm dipping my toe into book art this evening rather than finishing off Whole Piece #32.  Hopefully there will be some progress worth posting about. :D Cheers!

"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 #29

"Whole Piece #29"
5" by 7"
Oils on Panel

"Whole Piece #29"
This photo of my painting has a bit of glare, but it
displays the composition straight on without any
distortion from an angled shot, so I decided to share it.

Two Facial Features: One Whole Piece

This composition was a fun workaround for dealing with the desire to only display one facial feature while capturing nuanced angles or a peculiarity of an expression that can only be seen from an angle that includes more than one feature. Here I snuck in a full eye in addition to the focal point of the nose.  I think this counts as a painting of one feature because of the subtly of the eye, it is there more as a context for the nose than as its own element. I'll be sneaking in more secondary features as this series develops.

Shadow

I'm pleased with the shadows cast across the face in this painting. I think I'll be exploring this further in the Whole Piece series (my other shadowy Whole Piece painting). Shadows can be a perfect trick of perception as Film Noir exploited. Who doesn't look mysterious with half their face in shadow, even if they are smiling? (Carravagio was clearly in on this too.) And as this series is partly about finding ambiguity in what we find most recognizable I'm down for pushing into this aspect further.

Rebecca (1940)
Film Noir

Next

Eleven panels are freshly coated in gesso. A day of photo taking is planned for next week as my stockpile of Whole Piece reference has dwindled due to copious painting (If you'd like a piece of your face painted read about it here). I might even finish the plein air painting that requires having perfect weather, that means no clouds or wind, for a 2 hour window of time in the morning on top of my roof. :P Oh! And I do plan on posting my backlog of paintings. 

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"