Comparative Study By: Cindy Carmona

Introduction: My comparative study will be the main focus of comparing the use of
technique and color behind the artworks, between two different artists. One local
and the other International. I will be comparing Karen Williams Brusubardis
paintings Foliage particulates 2 pathway, Flower Fields Beyond the Cedar and
Chuck Closes Self-Portrait.
Cultural Context on Chuck Close Self portrait
Close did poorly in school but he found comfort in the Arts. Later after
graduating from YALE and earning his terminal degree (MFA) in visual
arts he was in the top place in the American Arts creating large scales
with the pixel, blur effects in his artwork. Chuck Close is known for his
high inventive techniques of painting the human face and is best known
for his large scale, photo based portraits. Close suffers from
prosopagnosia and also face blindness, in which he is unable to
recognize faces. Taking into consideration his sickness, his practice in
painting is unstoppable, thats is why his use of technique it is the way
it is. In order to recognize peoples faces he uses the grid technique and
uses a brush holding device strapped to his wrist and forearm to create
the immense piece he creates. Self Portrait, 1997. Oil on
Canvas, 102 x 84 (259.1 x 213.4
cm)
Analysis of formal qualities to Chuck Close Self
Portrait The main aspect that caught my attention within this piece
is the texture and the use of colors. Each cell in the painting
has a contrasting color that gives out the desire color for the
exact tone of a portrait. The colors that the artist uses are a
combination of warm and cool colors in order to contrast
the light and shade in the painting.

The technique of Chuck Close is very unique, because its a

technique that he uses in order to recognize faces and it has
kept him for so long and sustained him. The grid technique
is interesting, because when the painting is observed from a
long distance its eye catching due to the extraordinary
technique and vibrant colors. However, once its observed
Self Portrait up close, the painting sorts of plays tricks with the
by Chuck Close observers mind, because it appears blurry and hard to see
Oil on Canvas, 1997 the figure on the art piece.
102 x 84 (259.1 x 213.4 cm)
Cultural Context on Karen Williams Brusubardis
Karen Williams Brusubardis grew up in the rural western
Wisconsin. She spent most of her childhood exploring the
woods in her parents 20+ acres of land. Today her paintings
and drawings are reflections of her minds journey through
those childhood memories, where she remembered those
childhood places and imagined intersect. My imagination
influences my memories says Karen Williams ... I can't
Foliage particulates 2 pathway, 2016, Karen
help but incorporate those mental experiences into my
Williams Brusubardis
process. As a result, my paintings and drawings develop
eccentric characteristics with unusual color combinations and
abstracted shapes building upon the composition.

My interpretation of the phrase is that her experiences and

memories have an effect on her artwork, is the main reason
why the artist tends to do an unusual color combination and
abstract shapes in her paintings.

Flower Fields Beyond the Cedar, 2016, Karen

William Brusubardis
Analysis of formal qualities to Karens Flowers Fields
Beyond the Cedar One of the first things that I noticed about this piece is the texture
of the tree trunks how smooth it appears to the viewer, and a fine
craftsmanship in the outer lines of the tree trunks. The flowers
that appear in the bottom of the painting have a contrasting color
which its easy for the audience to depict that are daisies.

The background is a soft, hazy color which makes the trees to

Flower Fields Beyond the Cedar
by Karen Williams Brusubardis
Mixed Media, Silverpoint and Acrylic on
Plein air panel mounted on cedar, 2016
12" x 16.5"
stand out in the painting. The contrast of the colors in the painting
makes the audience to immediately attract their attention to the
trees, because the use of color is darker than anything else in the
painting. The usage of colors overall, is warm and soft, and gives
the feeling of a warm, calm day to the audience.
This art piece has a variety of warm colors which it gives out an
expressed style from the artist to the audience.
Analysis of formal qualities Karens Foliage
Particulates 2 Pathway The main aspect that caught my attention in this piece was
the technique and the unusual color combinations. This
painting reminds me of Trypophobia is a phobia of irregular
patterns of small holes or bumps, its a terrifying thing but it
was very rare for me to think about it when I see this art
piece.

The artist usage of contrasting colors is to portray the usage

Foliage Particulates 2 Pathway
By Karen Williams Brusubardis
Acrylic on Canvas, 2016
24" x 36"
of shadows and light within this piece. The abstracted
technique in the piece is very interesting, because its almost
portraying a memory or a dream which its hallucinogenic for
the audience. This is a connection of what Karen quoted that
as a result her paintings, and drawings develop eccentric
characteristics of unusual color combinations and abstracted
shapes. Because she paints out of her memories, depicting
the dream hallucinogenic effect to what she remembers and
this also is portrayed towards the audience.
 Compare and Contrast in technique
Ka
Br ren
l ose Fl usu Wi
C ait ow ba lli
u ck tr - The technique is the er rdi am
Ch f Por - The technique simple
Ce s B s
da ey
s
Sel
- The technique is
is detailed
found - Memory, r on
- Technique is hallucinogenic
d
throughout the
used the way it inspired
whole art piece
is to recognize - Mixed Media,
- Both techniques
faces Silverpoint and
are similar in
- Oil on canvas Acrylic on Plein
the flowers of
- 1997 air panel
Flowers Beyond
the Cedar and mounted on
the self Portrait cedar
- Overwhelming - 2016
 Compare and Contrast in technique
Ka
Br ren
e Fo usub Wil
C los Pa liag ard liam
u c k rait thw e P is s
Ch f Port ay art
icu
Sel - Technique is - Technique lat
es
explicit, contains of 2
detailed, - Eye two colors in
compact catching each circle
- Blur looking - The cell - Not so much
once seen up technique blur, seen up
close is very close
- Oil on Canvas similar - Acrylic on
- 1997 Canvas
- 2016
 Compare and Contrast in technique
Ka
a ms Br ren
il l i Fo usub Wil
n W i s d the 2 P liag ard liam
re rd n -
Ka suba Beyo The use of ath e P is s
u
Br wers
technique is wa art
smooth in the y icu
Flo dar trees
- The use of - The technique is lat
es
Ce - Background is
technique is overwhelmed
the same in with these tiny
soft, hazy the flowers rings with
- Only the flowers of the different sizes and
have the cell Flowers colors that display
technique Beyond the in the whole
- The background Cedar and painting
appears to be soft Foliage
strokes and in the particulates
tree trunks the 2 pathway
technique is very
neat, and smooth.
The lines are very
clean
 Compare and Contrast in color
Ka
Br ren
e Fl usub Will
los t ow ar ia
C ers dis ms
h uck ortrai - The colors - Usage of warm
Be
C fP yo
nd
Sel are very wild, colors only the
and gives the - Very little use Ce
da
audience an of a dark color r
- A cell with
overwhelmed - The majority of
contrasting
feeling by the the mixed media
colors to have
use of colors is hazy, to make
that desire
in each cell. the trees pop out
color for the
- Usage of both in the painting
figure.
warm and
cool colors
 Compare and Contrast in color
Kar
Bru en Wil
e Fol subard liams
los i
C Pat age P is
h uck rtrait hwa arti
y cula
C Po te 2
f
Sel
- Each cell has - Both have - The colors that
at least 3 or the usage of she uses is
more colors warm and surreal, because
- photographic cool colors there are no blue
effect to the - Both trees in nature
audience paintings use
variety of
colors to
depict light
and shade
- vivid ,
colorful
 Compare and Contrast in color
Kar
s - Grainy and Fol en Wi
i l liam r soft
l
Pat iage P liams
e n W s
e C eda hwa arti B
Kar ubardi ond th - It appears to
- Surreal colors y cul rusub
ate
s
Bru ers Be
y be the setting s 2 ardis
- The ground color
Flow of changing
- Landscape is earthy while
season from
- Both art pieces the background
summer to fall,
have trees of the trees it
because the
- Memory, and consists of a cool
leaves in the
hallucinogenic tone. This piece
trees is not
inspired by the consists mainly
close grained
artists event of warm and cool
- The
when she was colors in order to
background as
young bring out the
he landscape
shadows of the
becomes
piece.
distant the
colors become
softer and
grainier.
Interpretation of function and purpose for Chuck
Close Self Portrait
The purpose of Closes artwork is the way it is,
because he suffers from prosopagnosia which is face
blindness and his style is to be able to recognize
faces easily and painting with the grid method and
with the usage of the cell technique has helped him a
lot throughout his years.

Not only with the inventive technique he came up

with has helped him, but the use of color as well. By
adding hues in each cell and working with
photography and painting its a combo that has
helped him with his sickness and created immense Self Portrait
masterpieces. by Chuck Close
Oil on Canvas, 1997
102 x 84 (259.1 x 213.4 cm)
Interpretation of function and purpose for Karen
Williams Brusubardis: Foliage Particulates 2 Pathway
The artists purpose in this painting is to revive the
memories she had when she was young. Karen
since little was an adventurous girl, she spent most
of her childhood exploring the woods in her
parents 20+ acres of land.

The way why her artwork appears to be

Foliage Particulates 2
Pathway
By Karen Williams Brusubardis
Acrylic on Canvas, 2016
24" x 36"
hallucinogenic and multi-colored, its how the way
she said that her imagination influences her
memories. The way she remembers her childhood
memories, wont be the same she remembers when
painting, it may be distorted and a little change
added to her paintings, which makes her paintings
very interesting for the audience, due to her use of
color.
Interpretation of function and purpose for Karen
Williams Brusubardis: Flowers Beyond the Cedar
The artists purpose in this art piece is to portray a landscape
with vibrant colors and sort of a close up of the trees, to give
that view to the audience, trying to portray of what she first
observes when she wanders in the woods.

The close up of the trees in this paintings appears to be the only

Flower Fields Beyond the Cedar
by Karen Williams Brusubardis
Mixed Media, Silverpoint and Acrylic on
Plein air panel mounted on cedar, 2016
12" x 16.5"
object that catches the eye of the viewer, it immediately attracts
them to the dark color and fine, straight lines of the tree. The
background appears to be soft and hazy, in order to not distract
the audience when they pay attention to the trees. This art piece
is not overwhelmed with vibrant colors and abstracted shapes
that appear in her paintings. This art piece, gives out the feeling
of a warm, calm day in the woods or prairie.
Her function in this piece is to first attract the attention of the
viewers towards the trees instead of feeling overwhelmed when
looking at the whole piece.
The connection between my artwork and the artists
The intentions for this piece was to replicate the
technique of both Chuck Close and Karen William
Brusubardis, with the surreal colors that appear in
Karens paintings, and the inventive technique that
Chuck Close came up with The grid technique.

I did a contrast of colors manipulating warm and cold

colors in my self portrait. I used the grid technique
that Chuck Close uses in his paintings, and colored
each cell with a primary color and went back in, to
give it a contrast color of the primary color I used.
I used warm and cold hues in the self portrait in order
to make the image stand out with the contrasting
Self Portrait colors.
By Cindy Carmona
Acrylic on Canvas, 2016
12 x 12
 Compare and Contrast
Ch
it Se uck C
rtra lf P
l f P o ort lose
M y Se - Two colors in rai
t
- Detailed
each cell
- At least 3 or
- Simple
more colors in
- Obvious usage
each individual
of cool and
- Same grid cell
warm colors
technique - Overwhelming
- Each cell is
- Vibrant - Contrast colors
much larger than
colors to depict shade
Closes
- Self portrait and light
individual cell in
- Photographic
his immense
effect
portrait
 Compare and Contrast
Ka
r
Bru en W
i
Flo subar lliams
ait Ce wers B dis
rtr dar eyo
elf Po - Vibrant colors - Soft, hazy nd
yS the
M - Cool and warm background
colors - Landscape
- Grid technique - Similar - Dark color used in
- Self portrait technique the trees
- Teen years, a in flowers - Memory based
change to see and the
later in life cell of the
portrait
 Compare and Contrast Ka
Bru ren W
Fo sub illia
a
Pa liage rdis ms
thw Pa
rtrait ay rtic
Po ula
Self - Abstracted shapes
tes
My - Grid technique 2
- Self Portrait - Landscape
- Use of warm - Vibrant - Use of warm and
colors to contrast colors cool colors to
from one another - Similar in depict shade and
- Time flow technique light in the painting
throughout the - Cool and - Memory,
years (when I look warm imagination
back to see how I colors inspired
looked when I was - 2016
a teen) - Surreal
colors
 Conclusion
In conclusion all of the artworks that were analyzed had some qualities that were similar to each other.
The artworks of Chuck Close and Karen William Brusubardis are similar to each other in technique and
the use of color. Also, there are differences that makes them different from each other. Each artist tends to
have their own style and their purpose of creating their work. Chuck Close self portrait and Karens
Brusubardis Foliage particulates 2 pathway and Flowers beyond the Cedar are similar to each other,
because they have the same brush stroke technique with filling in each cell with colors contrasting from
each other. The use of color in Closes self portrait he uses primary colors to make the appropriate tones
he wants to use, and Karens Foliage particulates painting she uses warm and cold tones to depict light
and shade in her painting. Finally Flowers beyond the Cedar Karen uses warm colors with the same
technique as Chuck for the flowers but appears to be smooth for the tree bark. My self portrait has a
combination of each artists technique, and use of color however my overall message is different from the
artists. My message is just a self portrait from my teen years, then later throughout the years I would look
back and see the change.
Sources
Biography.com Editors. "Chuck Close Biography." The Biography.com website. August 17, 2015. Accessed November 08, 2015.
http://www.biography.com/people/chuck-close-9251491.
"Chuck Close." PACE. Accessed November 15, 2016.
http://www.pacegallery.com/artists/80/chuck-close.
"Karen Williams Brusubardis." Fine art america. Accessed October 13, 2015.
http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/karen-williams-brusubardis.html?tab=artwork.
Morgan, J.P. "Closer: The Graphic Art of Chuck Close (Lecture Gallery)." Bruce Museum. Accessed November 08, 2015.
https://brucemuseum.org/site/exhibitions_detail/closer-the-graphic-art-of-chuck-close1

Williams Brusubardis, Karen. "ARTIST STATEMENT THE INTERSECTION OF MEMORY & IMAGINATION." Karen
Williams-Brusubardis Fine Art. Accessed November 08, 2015. http://karenwb.faso.com/about.