"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 #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.

"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