"Present"

"Present"
Oils on Panel
10" by 10"

About a month ago a favorite artist of mine, Kimberly Kelly Santini, post a challenge to paint from the same photo (taken by a friend of hers) as she had already painted from on her Facebook page. The dog's pose (Zevon) is both visually powerful and intriguing because of its ambiguity. I was curious to see how I could make the image my own. I went through my Pinterest portrait art board to remind myself of what in a portrait makes me want to explore it and delved into Stanka Kordic's website for inspiration in creating a mood or sense of atmosphere and then the painting commenced. After I completed it I had to wait about a month for it to be dry enough to get a good photo and got it in to the challenge right under the wire. It was an ideal way to play with ideas in paint. I greatly appreciate Kimberly Kelly Santini for sharing her inspiration. And I appreciate her Facebook followers kind comments! She says she plans on doing more art challenges and I look forward to them!

"Twinkling"

"Twinkling"
8" by 8"
Oils on Gessoed Panel

A Loving Reminder

I have found that painting a portrait of a person I love is invaluable. Not only because I end up with a keepsake and record of at least one way I see that person, maybe even a portfolio piece, but because it always reminds me not to get too attached to photo reference. When I know and love a person, I have seen them in almost every possible lighting and expression, I have that visual knowledge to draw upon. Using that knowledge of a face or person I know well shows me that no matter how good the photo reference, it can't give me that full understanding to work with. Painting a loved one is a reminder not to be complacent when creating a likeness.

Finding Personality

So, how does this apply to portraits of people I don't know, or at least not as well? You might assume that knowing the difference in the painting experience might be disheartening to me when I approach a more distant subject, but in fact it helps me remember that I am not copying a photograph, but capturing something indescribable in other ways through my art. One way I can do that is just by having more than one photograph to work from, so I can see different aspects of that person. If I have met the person in real life I can think of my impression of them and how the light changed their face. And, lastly, I can pick up on some detail of expression that the photograph shows me, but play it up or find my interpretation of a bit of who they are through that detail and unravel it in my work.

"Twinkling"

In case you are wondering, the photo above is a likeness of my beautiful Mom. The paint is still wet, as this painting is freshly completed today. I'll get a nice, clear straight on photo of this painting after it dries. For now, I hope you enjoy this glimpse into my process.


P.S. If you are interested in commissioning a portrait, pepper me with questions at ambergoulet@yahoo.com.

Photo Journal: Almost to ArtPrize 2014!

Last week was a bit of a ride. As ArtPrize (a city wide art experience and competition with visitors from around the world in Grand Rapids Michigan) approaches quickly (I'll be leaving for Grand Rapids in less than 30 days!) I have a few more paintings to complete and much prepping for getting 100 paintings over 2000 miles away. 

91 paintings on a single shelf

At the beginning of last week I got out all the paintings from the series I had stored away and stacked the panels at a slant in just one shelf of my bookcase. My plan was to do the first big layout of the paintings and even possibly complete the series. The next day I had planned on completing a painting in the morning and doing to the layout in the afternoon, but strange viruses strike at any moment and this virus struck. 

Underpainting of Whole Piece #92 started the next day.

lively progress

Whole piece #92 was finished the day before the first big layout was to commence.

Still with many breaks I was enjoying painting Whole Piece #92 and by midday the following day I had completed the painting. With most of the series done and dry this was my first chance to see them all together and I was too excited about it to wait until I felt better.  I packed up my paintings and carried them out to the barn. From there the process was slow with many breaks but thanks to my father-in-law who had set up the surface to lay the paintings out on and my husband who helped me in the layout, as I needed to rest a bunch, I got a pretty happy result that helped me make the final decisions for the paintings that need to be added to the series. And thankfully I didn't even kill myself climbing a ladder while dizzy to the barn loft to get a good look at the paintings. 

All 91 dry small paintings are laid out first on three separated boards that are each 4' by 6.'

When the arrangement of the paintings was looking good my husband and father-in-law
scooched the boards together for me.

It was the best light I had seen a grouping of this series in yet. Natural light diffused from
cloud cover coming in through open barn doors.

My view of the series from the barn loft, about 15' up.

The week went on from there and I was too weak to get much done, but I wanted to paint so I completed #93 and started #94 with copious breaks. All in all not too shabby of a week after all. :-)

Evening tea (green tea with almond milk and a bit of honey) after my afternoon tea, and a couple
of cups of morning tea to keep the painting going. Lots of tea was consumed in this exhausted week. 

Whole Piece #93 done after several days working on it for short periods while I was sick.

A detail from Whole Piece #94 in process.

P.S. As of today Whole Piece #94 & #95 are completed and #96 is today's work. This is the final count down. I'm aiming at pushing through to the completion of The Whole Piece Series this week.

"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 6," Daily Painting # 41

"Whole Piece 6," Available (click here)

4" by 4"

Oils on Panel

30 Paintings in 30 Days! Yeeps.

I'm in the final stretch of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge I joined. I had a total of three days off over the last month which means I have to finish 5 paintings in the next three days. I've done one and a half paintings these last two days. Something has come up both days that has kept me just short of two paintings a day. This is the last push! I do not intend to be beaten. So there.

The Series

I have finally gotten to a new feature! So far for my Whole Piece series I had only done mouths and eyes, but I fully intend to show off every facial feature including important wrinkles and creases. (The Whole Piece series is explained here. To get involved read more here.) This is yesterday's painting and since then I've completed another nose. These two noses were a great opportunity to show similarity and difference between generations as they are of a mother and daughter with the same facial expression.

Next

Another nose as I mentioned. Then a corner of a mouth (Currently in progress!). Then, some forehead wrinkles. That's the plan. I think I shall close out this 30 days challenge with the Whole Piece series.

"Observer," Daily Painting # 31

"Observer," Available (click here)
Oils on Panel
8" by 8"

Always Shifting

Whenever I see these jewel like birds in the aviary near the entrance of the Wild Animal Park they perch briefly, maybe peck and forage briefly, cock their head about and fly off to investigate the intriguing place they spotted. This bird perched a bit longer than usual studying the canopy overhead before flying off with another of her species following. I wanted to capture that focused thoughtful gaze in this painting, as I don't often see paintings of birds that are more than displays of beauty. I hope I achieved that aim.

Sadly I'm unsure of this bird's species. I'm gonna have to start writing these down as I take reference photos! Next time I'm at the Wild Animal Park I'll check, but in the meantime if you recognize the species I'd love to know.


Next

I believe I will do another landscape. I have some lovely moody photos to take advantage of. If not then another addition to my Whole Piece series. I hope to get two paintings done in one day sometime this week as I missed yesterday for a very happy family event. Wish me luck.

"Whole Piece 2," Daily Painting # 29

"Whole Piece 2," Available (click here)Oils on Panel8" by 8"

Abstract Familiarity

I'm fascinated by the way that our understanding of the visual world when taken out of context can provoke a shift in our emotional response. Images that are familiar, friendly, or comforting become ambiguous. Exploring the concept of seeing faces as individual parts, that are whole on their own and aren't seen together as a whole, has taken me back to my interest in presenting images representationally while shifting the way the image is presented so that it is not familiar. I'm pursuing the idea that an image becomes somewhat abstract when its context is changed and because of that it does not allow the viewer to have a straightforward response. (See my face blindness post to further explore this topic.)

Next

Something... straightforward? Something pretty? Maybe. :) I certainly want to stay on the expressive color kick that these last two pieces have displayed. (I think I will do more individual facial feature paintings, but I'll take a break for now.)

"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 :) 

"Unworried," Daily Painting # 24

"Unworried," Available (click here)

Oils on Panel

6" by 6"

Young Bighorn

Most times when I visit the bighorn sheep exhibit at the Wild Animal Park up on Condor Ridge I find a group of snoozing bighorns of various ages. They have the usual poses of many hoofed creatures resting, bodies relatively upright and necks curved to rest. I captured this image on a hot day, most of the animals were beating the heat by resting, some of the bighorns were even flaked out on their sides legs sprawled. But right in the middle of the enclosure, closer to us gawkers, was a juvenile bighorn carefully laying with legs tucked in and just his chin touching the boulder beneath him, his face was serene almost smiling and the heat did not seem to be stressing him at all. I'm happy to have witnessed this telling pose and to have studied it further in paint.

Process

All I can say is color! I focused on pushing color to enliven this subject. Okay, and I wanted to control the texture and quality o brushstrokes carefully, which I believe I achieved in the end after a bit of readjusting.

Next

Something boldly colorful I hope!

"Flying Practice," Daily Painting #20

"Flying Practice," Available (Click Here)

8" by 8"

Oils on Panel

Grover

I found a way to paint a muppet! I believe Grover rounds out my fuzzy trio nicely (pink lion, moth, and muppet). I had completely forgotten about my husband's old tiny stuffed Grover. He was up sitting on a shelf clutching a shriveled pumpkin (The story behind Grover and the pumpkin's relationship is convoluted and will be saved for later.) His proportions are a bit different than we usually see on Sesame Street (not to mention this guy is tiny) so with his big head, short limbs, and more rounded body I believe he is a younger Grover. Here he is still daydreaming about becoming Super Grover. The only thing I missed was that amazing nubbly fur that Grover has on Sesame Street. Oh well.

Here is a favorite Grover clip of mine, I watched it earlier to get inspiration.

Next

The unknown...

"Perseverance," Daily Painting #14

"Perseverance," Available in Auction (click here)

8" by 8" Oils on Panel

 An Unusual Giraffe

"Perseverance," side view for texture

  I've been noticing this giraffe at the San Diego Zoo   for years now. At first the nobs on her head were the only distinguishing feature about her, then over time I noticed she was the only giraffe I had ever seen that had wrinkles, and lately I've noticed that her coat seems lighter on her face almost as if white is creeping into it.

  I don't know how old she is, but her face seems to bely a long and storied life. Her face makes me want to get to know her, so I painted her to know her better through the study and challenge.

Process

To really explore the odd textures that are involved in this giraffe's countenance I wanted to not only work texture in with my brushwork and a thicker application of paint, but also push the color range in her face to emphasize the overall variety in surface.

Next

At the San Diego Wild Animal Park I often see native animals that fascinate me as much as the exotic animals. Mule deer cross through at sunset and engender some hushed excitement, but even native lizards and rabbits draw me in. One of my favorite recent images that I caught at the Wild Animal Park was of a timid rabbit. I must paint her soon.

"Yeah, I'm a Capybara," Daily Painting #12

"Yeah, I'm a Capybara," Available in Auction (click here) 

5" by 7" Oil on Panel

Thinking About Capybaras

I've always enjoyed capybaras. I was quite impressed the first time I learned the world's largest rodent with its rounded sloping body, the capybara, was on average between 75 and 150 pounds. And then of course they reminded me of one of my favorite children's book creatures from my childhood the Wumps of The Wump World.

In recent years they put in an exhibit for capybaras at the San Diego Zoo and I could get a full dose every visit. They have such relaxed confidence with their solid bodies taking up space without any qualms. The goal of this painting and the fun of it was to try to capture that attitude. I'm guessing I'll be painting some of these guys again. (BTW, their profiles are wholly amusing in shape, I must paint a profile in the future.)

Process

I didn't manage to paint this guy in just one day as this was the one painting I managed to get done during the move, but instead in two short sessions that equaled the amount of time I usually spend on a daily painting. That bit of drying time allowed me to have two layers of palette knife work, and to layer brushwork and texture throughout. It was gratifying to play with my interest in surface texture further on a daily painting as I have been focusing on texture in my larger long term pieces.

Perhaps I'll share some angled photos of this painting and others soon so that you all can see the physical texture as if you were seeing the paintings in person.

In the Plans

An old giraffe, another bird, and something colorful.

"Cascading Moment," Daily Painting #13 (Number 12 will be shared soon.)

"Cascading Moment," Available (Click Here) 

5" by 7" Oil on Panel

The Peacock

I've always been reticent to paint a peacock. I'm in love with their cool range of brilliant colors. Their proud walk has it's comical self aggrandizing qualities. Their slightly nasal calls both feel exotic and a bit like a weird clearing of a very stuffy nasal passage (Felix Unger comes to mind.). I think it is because they are just beautiful and that seems too straightforward, not thoughtful enough.

At the same time I have no problem trying to get the most glorious colorful photos of a displaying peacock every time I meet up with one. On one of my recent trips to the San Diego Zoo I heard that distinctive cry and saw a crowd gathered and rushed ahead of my patient husband to catch the perfect photo. I had sadly arrived too late for the full display, but I realized in that moment that this inbetween moment before he quietly went back to banal pecking or slowly dragged away his heavy plumage was  something not as straightforward. This was a moment that made sense for me to paint. As he turned away from the crowd his plumage half down became a swirl around him and I caught an image to paint from.

Process

I wasn't quite sure how to approach painting this bird without the different parts of his body seeming disconnected. My strategy was to focus on the soft edges that were created by the fine ends of the display feathers and the more downy feathers on the underside of the display. I enjoyed capturing how ordinary a peacock's body looks shaded by their bold plumage.

Next

I'm happy I finally painted a grand peacock. I'm back to painting daily again. Weeee...the adventure resumes.

Not a Fair-Weather Painter

You may have noticed that my "daily" paintings have not been coming everyday.  The reality is that I am moving in less than two weeks. My dreams of painting a new painting everyday, while finishing a large plein air piece, and packing things up just isn't jiving. (I only have access to paint the plein air piece from this property. But! Woohoo I am almost finished with the plein air piece!)

I do plan to try to squeeze these small paintings in, but they won't be everyday for the next couple of weeks. I'll be back at it soon enough with full gusto.

See you soon.

"Taiko Elation," Daily Painting #11

"Taiko Elation," Available (Click Here) 6" by 6," oils on panel

Taiko Drumming

This is the taiko group associated with the
 Vista Buddahist Temple where I attended
this year's Obon Festival.

One of the impressive things about the Taiko players is their radiant smiles as they perform quite physical music pieces with precision. Though I know they are consciously making an effort to smile throughout I can imagine that the drumming itself, the physical sensation, may give them a sense of well being that would bring a smile to their faces. I love feeling the sound emanate off the drums and vibrate my ribcage, it is soothing like the vibrations made when humming or singing with the whole of a choir.

I have been going to this small Obon festival for years and now, although I have never spoken with many of the performers of the Taiko group, I do recognize their faces.  This man's face has always intrigued me and I decided I couldn't go without doing a quick painting featuring him.

Process

I wouldn't recommend painting while feeling nauseous! :P The oil paint smelled horrid to me and usually I quite like it's rounded warm smell. (My studio is well ventilated, so I wasn't dying of fume intoxication. :P) I made a nice simple value drawing in one color of oils and then began painting directly, pushing the color more than I usually do when I use oils for a "portrait." Because this was a quick painting I felt freer in my portrayal a person's countenance.

Next

I think I'll take a nice fuzzy break from Obon in my next painting. (I do think I will get back to more Obon paintings.) I'm thinking a confident capybara proudly situated on panel will be a nice change.

"Obon Choochin," Daily Painting #10

"Obon Choochin," Available (Click Here) 

5" by 7" Oils on Panel

Lanterns

These lanterns hang every year around the outdoor platform that centers this small Obon festival. At the end of the festival day as the sky dims and the second half of dancing concludes these lanterns glow as a warm goodbye. It always makes the end of a very happy day a little less like the end of the celebration. Lanterns are a traditional part of Obon festivals. They are usually lit at the end of the festival and float down a river to send the ancestor spirits away after celebrating and remembering them.

Process

While I love the effect of the lanterns glowing through a tree in the photograph I do find that I missed showing off a full lantern unobstructed, so I may have to do another painting showing off the lanterns more directly. For this painting I enjoyed scumbling in the initial "painted drawing" of the tree's needles and playing with capturing the quality of a bushy needled tree in low light.

Next

More Obon to come!

"Bon Odori no Mae," Daily Painting #9

"Bon Odori no Mae," Available (Click Here) 6" by 6," Oils on Panel

 

 

Inspiration

These little girls were a couple of the many children dressed in versions of traditional Japanese clothes at the Obon festival I visited this past weekend. The title of this piece means "before the dance" (according to my aspiring linguist husband :)). These girls participated in the traditional dances just like most of the people from the buddhist temple and many of the visitors (including me!). I was caught by their brightness on the surprisingly cloudy day (they were like little flowers) and how adult they seemed clustered talking privately even as they were so much tinier than those around them.

Process

I started this painting yesterday incredibly tired! I was working so slowly, but I was determined to finish it and I almost did. I went through my normal process and despite temptation to take shortcuts I didn't and I decided to take time to work on a larger plein air painting (I will share it with you all eventually.), so I didn't finish the painting yesterday. It was an interesting challenge to simplify this subject matter into such a small panel. I played with simplifying values and shapes, muting the background colors, limiting their contrast, making shapes simple, mostly to force our attention on the little girls.

Tomorrow

There was so much color an interest at the Obon festival that I can't stop with just this painting. I know at least tomorrow will be another Obon painting! 

"All Light and Exuberance," Daily Painting #8

"All Light and Exuberance," Available (Click Here),

 6" by 6" Oils on Panel

Inspiration

I had a great desire to paint color. Glorious color! It is another gray day in the summer which is quite odd in my experience so the outdoors was not going to provide that for me. Off the trellis these came happily up to sit in the bright diffused light from my large window and many studio lights.

Process

I was so happy about the color I spent some time
prepping my palette, so that only pure fresh pigment would be mixed for the most vibrancy. I mixed a good amount of color ahead of time just for the joy of it.  I enjoyed playing with the patterning in the small thick glass container that I rested the roses in and set them atop an art book to broaden the color palette.

I am happier for painting this today.

An Outing and Painting Prep

Tomorrow I go to a local Obon Festival. There will be taiko drumming (Taiko drums are large drums arranged theatrically so that those beating them can perform a sort of dance as they create music. The drums are large and their sound pleasantly reverberates in the listeners ribcage.) There will be traditional Japanese folk dancing, which anyone can participate in, and every year I dance, so I look like less of a fool every year as pick up bits of the movements. Oh and the food is scrummy! I recommend the pancakes filled with sweet beans. Hopefully I can get some reference photos to use for my next couple of paintings!

"Self-Possessed," Daily Painting #7

"Self-Possessed," Available (Click Here), 6" by 6" oil on panel

A Self-Possessed Camel

I don't remember ever going to the San Diego Zoo and this camel not being there. He is rather haggard at this point, one hump slumps, and he often drools. Though his age has affected him he always seems self-aware and holds his own at the top of the mesa with the younger bactrian camels around him. I often visit that part of the zoo at sunset when the sun is low, directly behind his enclosure and I would greatly miss him if I came upon that spot and our eyes didn't meet.

Process

For this piece I played with pushing the colors to portray the mood. I wanted to keep the brushwork noticeable and expressive. Both these techniques I hope show the impact his personality has on me. The process for this piece was both challenging because I was pushing technique and fun because of that pushing.

"Weary of Wariness," Daily Painting #4

"Weary of Wariness," SOLD 

5" by 7" Oils on Panel

This Rabbit

I  came across this rabbit in a small orchard of apple trees where the wild oats golden in the summer dryness are short from extensive nibbling. It was a good place for a rabbit to be and I think this rabbit was awaiting me leaving it to peace.

Process

I'm happy with the brushwork on this piece. I have been looking at several art books that I had neglected for awhile. One of my favorite painters is John Singer Sargent. His brushwork is glorious. I think just looking at a book on his plein air works has helped remind me to approach painting thinking about the brushstrokes I make throughout a painting's creation. Soon I'll do an inspiration post and share some of the images from the Sargent book I own, everyone should see their liveliness.

Next

I'm thinking of doing something big on my next small panel. A whole landscape? You shall see. ;)