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 #100!

I did it! I made it to Whole Piece #100 just yesterday. Now to prep everything for the big journey to Grand Rapids  (In just under 2 weeks!) for ArtPrize. I hope you can visit my series during ArtPrize 2014 at its venue Westminster Presbyterian Church.

"Whole Piece #100"
5" by 7"
Oils on Panel

P.S. I couldn't hold myself to just 100 paintings in the series, so today I completed #101 and I can't wait to share it.

Whole Piece #95

"Whole Piece #95"
Oils on Panel
5" by 7"

"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 #41"

"Whole Piece #41"
5" by 7"
Oils on Panel

This feels like quite the throw back at the moment, though really it wasn't that long ago that I painted it. Today I finished Whole Piece #79 and got well into #80. I wanted to dash off this quick post with a painting I already had photographed before taking a holiday from painting for the 4th with family. It shall be lovely to relax, but all the while I'll be yearning to get back to #80 as it has been great fun so far. I'll be back soon. :-)

P.S. If your new here visit this post to read about the Whole Piece Series.

"Whole Piece #41"
Side View

Whole Piece #72

"Whole Piece #72"
Oils on Panel
5" by 7"

This Particular Painting

In this painting I was most interested in capturing a softness in the expression.  I'm quite pleased with the result. This painting deserves a better photo, but I just couldn't wait to share it.

The Series

I'm in the final stretch of the series now, I finished Whole Piece #76 yesterday so that means just 24 more paintings to go! I've got a schedule marked down with no exceptions in my planner. Wish me luck! I've been reflecting a lot on the series of late and I have more ideas to share in my upcoming posts.

Exercising My Muse

I take photographs almost daily as well as paint. Often times those photographs capture some quality that gets me wanting to explore an idea in my art, whether it be a pose, expression, emotion, mood, color palette, pattern, or textures. I've decided to share some of these photos on a linked blog called The Muse's Routine. You can find the blog on one of the tabs at the top of this page.  Right now they are all nature photography (I live in the mountains.) but there are triggers for my art in man made objects and buildings as well, it just depends on the spot of this Earth I occupy that day. ;-)

Next

Mad, simply mad times...simply the madness of painting my days away. ;-)

"Whole Piece #62"

"Whole Piece #62"
5" by 7"
Oils on Panel

The Pout

While painting this small baby's lips, and thinking about their unaware owner I couldn't help but ponder where the idea of a pout stands. Has it ever struck you as odd that a "pout" is as easily associated with a baby, or a young sullen child, and a quite adult sexy woman? I thought it might just be me with this perception. So, I googled just the word pout and clicked on the images tab, and I found both small children and adult women and the further I scrolled the more adult women there were with lipsticked lips and alluring expressions. What at one time seems to have been a word associated with childhood (my Mom remembers a time when no one called a woman's lips a pout), and often cranky childhood at that, is now a facial expression women widely adopt to look sexier.

Is it just the fact that it makes woman's lips look bigger, or are we enjoying seeing an adult woman as much like a petulant helpless child? I'm not sure I've made up my mind as how these two meanings of the word came about, but I certainly want to pay attention to how they affect our perceptions.

Process

This painting became focused on balance. Though there was a definite boldness to the way these lips sat there was a soft calmness that I wanted to convey as well. To portray the calm mood I kept the value shifts subtle. Though I wanted this to be quieter in my application of techniques I didn't want to miss out on portraying the cool colors that can be pushed a bit beyond what we can easily perceive and I still made sure the brushwork was varied in texture.

Next

As I now have more paintings completed in the Whole Piece Series than ahead of me I am focusing on finding bits of faces I haven't portrayed or have yet to portray with a particular expression. I'm looking for the way the skin between eyebrows wrinkles, the skew of the outside corner of an eye, and any other peculiarity of angle or line. I'm carefully rounding out this series, so that the viewer has much to think about.

P.S. You can get involved in the Whole Piece Series too. Read about that here.

"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 #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 #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 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.

"Whole Piece #47"

"Whole Piece #47"
4" by 4"
Oils on Panel
Side View

Looking Close

Georgia O'Keefe
"Red Hills with the Pedernel"
1936 Oils on Linen

Painting these closely cropped images of a most familiar subject matter, the human face, has allowed me to think about and revel in the varied form of any face. I immerse myself in the curves and plains, then carefully reproduce the vault of a nostril or overhang of an eyelid. When else would I allow myself to stare so unabashedly? Here there was so much a sense of rounded volume at play. I couldn't help but be reminded of desert landscapes and Georgia O'Keefe paintings.

"Whole Piece #47"
In Process
Initial Oil Sketch

Foundation

I've managed to speed my process again of late by being strict with myself at the beginning of a painting. I had sometimes fallen away from good foundation habits in painting as I was producing so many small pieces, and while sometimes that goes off without a hitch it can also lead to more backtracking to fix what wasn't laid out well in the underpainting. So I have been consistent of late about toning the surface before painting and I've been a bit more careful about my quick line or value sketch I make with thinned oil paint.

Next

I'm starting to run low on my Whole Piece Series reference again. So perhaps another trip to Grossmont to find some generous souls willing to support my painting with their faces. Also! I would dearly love to paint a pet bunny for free to include in my pet portrait portfolio! If you know someone with a rabbit, or you have one let me know! 

"Whole Piece #47"
4" by 4"
Oils on Panel
(Sadly I fought with glare and lost. Perhaps after this dries
further I can get a good picture of is straight on to share.)

"Whole Piece #46"

"Whole Piece #46"
4" by 4"
Oils on Panel

Bunnies!

"Whole Piece #46"
Side View

First things first! Does anybody have a pet bunny they'd like me to paint for free? I'm interested in adding a rabbit portrait to my pet portrait portfolio. Please contact me at ambergoulet@yahoo.com with your pet bunny photos. 

Fascinating Cavernous Ears

Before working on the Whole Piece Series I had never done in-depth painting of ears. Usually an ear is important to get to look "right" but not much more than a sidenote or afterthought. What I have found thought is that they are enjoyable to dive into much like a beautifully lit rock formation might be. There are so many value shifts and spaces to explore. They seem to exhibit personality in a curious abstract way.

Speaking of Sidenotes

In many of the recent Whole Piece paintings I'm intrigued by the effect of little bits of personal objects or style on the periphery. There are many bits of glasses, and in this piece perhaps even a hair color choice can count. I enjoy how they complicate these images. Even in these snippets of faces we can be influenced by context. We may even snatch hold of what little context we are given with more fervor. Our interpretation of others is never straightforward.

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 #42"

"Whole Piece #42"
5" by 7"
Oils on Panel

The Seven Day Sprint

"Whole Piece #42"
Side View

So far so good. I'm on track, I completed a painting yesterday and today. (I'll try to share yesterday's painting before the sprint is through. ;)) Eight more to go by next Tuesday midnight to hit my half way goal, painting #50, in the series of 100 paintings! In this painting I enjoyed portraying a bright light cast onto the face without a harsh light shadow contrast. I believe the coupling of a slightly opened mouth and subtle shadows are what intrigued me, as that combination I believe creates a sense of mood that is present but hard to define. That undefined mood feels like a good connection to experiencing face blindness and to many ponderous human experiences.

Next

I'm hoping to get two 4" by 4" paintings done tomorrow as to meet my goal I'll have to double up a few times. Back in September of last year I managed to complete three small paintings in one day to meet my 30 paintings in 30 days goal, so I know it is possible. AND, I am so lucky to have no distractions or other obligations in sight for tomorrow!

P.S. If you are new to the blog check out this post to learn about the series, and this post to learn how to join in.

A Crazy Endeavor?

Wish me luck!

My Scheme

So, I've been cooking up an idea since I finished my latest Whole Piece Series painting today. After going through all the paintings I've done so far this evening and recording those I haven't photographed I realized I had missed one all together. So instead of just finishing #39 I just hit #40. I'd like to be at #50 and solidly half way to my 100 painting goal (Though I may decide on just 75 depending on how the panels lay together as I go.). So I've decided to shoot for the moon.

Resolve

In the next 7 days I am aiming to complete 10 paintings. (I'll be pleased with 7, but I must aim high.) By next Tuesday I hope to have reached "Whole Piece #50." (I even hope to blog post as I go.) Whether or not I make it I know that it will push me forward to state this high goal.

"Whole Piece #35"

"Whole Piece #35"
6" by 6"
Oils on Panel

Almost Up to Date

Finally a more recent painting to share with you all! I painted this just a couple of days ago, from photo reference that I got from another generous Grossmont College student.

Process

This painting was a bit of a challenge and great fun. Getting those lips to be the right kind of bright red (Which sadly doesn't quite come out true on the web. :-P) was a balancing act between garish and vibrant. This is the first of the Whole Piece Series where I got to play with painting some bolder make up. Beyond the fun of potent color this lovely lady's face had so much form to play with. I enjoy sinking my eyes into the dips between one plane of her face and another and gliding over the curves of her distinct chin, lips and cheeks. :) I really focused on conveying that sense of shape and form so that other's can revel in it.

A Piece

I am pleased that this painting of just her lips doesn't belie her overall expression, though in looking at the whole photo I have for reference you wouldn't guess that would be the case.

Currently

I have a nice variety of new paintings. Vastly different skin tones and mood in facial features. I'm almost done with a painting of an eye completely in shadow. (I hope you'll join in too.)

"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 #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.