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carol monosson edan

New/Old Direction

Those who know my work know that I do some representational work, mainly in the figurative area. I lean more to the abstract figure in a abstracted background, but recognizable as a figure. See Uri Portrait of a young Man. My first introduction with abstacting the figure was with Melinda Cootsona was from a lesson way back in 2020 when she was a guest speaker at the Academy of Cold Wax, where she explained her process. She has many e-courses, some self-study, plus one-on-one workshops. I am presently taking a course with her through Kara Bullock Art School called Lean Into Figurative Abstraction. If anyone does any figurative work, Melinda is a MUST! I have taken 3 full e-courses and one self study course with Melinda, love her teaching methods.


First Exercise

Finding shapes in a portrait using Notanizer or posterizer on a photo edit program. One of the learning goals is to recognize shapes and show how little you need to recognize the face or figure. Did 2 studies, a three tone and 4 tone painting. The 4 tone painting is more expressive and loose in the shapes, so Melinda suggested I do a second using more defined shapes, the 3 tone portrait. I usually paint with loose edges, so this was out of my comfort zone. My reference was a portrait taken by my father when I was 17-18, a million years ago.

Four tone study

Oils and cold wax

12x12" on paper


Three tone study

Oils and cold wax

12x12" on paper


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מור ששון
מור ששון
Jul 21, 2023

wow!

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Guest
Jul 06, 2023
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

So interesting, Carol. Yes, you really do need just a little to recognize someone. I really love the textures in the first one. And it's so interesting, how each one has such a different expression. :)

Sheila

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Lola Jovan
Lola Jovan
Jul 02, 2023

Love your figurative work - the abstractedness of background and shadowy foreground evoke SUCH emotion! xo Lola

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Dotty Seiter
Dotty Seiter
Jul 01, 2023

Carol, Dotty here thanking you for this post! I'm grateful for the teaching aspect of it, the intro to Melinda Cootsona, the reminders that Notanizer is out there for my use (I think I may have poked around once to see what it was but I've never made use of it), and your compelling self-portraits. You've got my synapses firing!

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carol monosson edan
carol monosson edan
Jul 01, 2023
Replying to

Thanks, Dotty! I sometimes use it to see the value distribution in WIP. It's a great tool.Now for use for reference images.

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ruth edan
ruth edan
Jul 01, 2023
Rated 5 out of 5 stars.

מקסים ראיתי את זה מתבצע ... נהדר

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carol monosson edan
carol monosson edan
Jul 01, 2023
Replying to

You always have a first hand view!

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