An Exploration in Color and Light by Michelle Borzillo
My objective with my art is to capture the wonder of life and nature. Whether the subject is wildlife or a landscape, a portrait or a cityscape, art gives me the opportunity to study the subject and discover a way to express its beauty for everyone to experience.
Oil
Painting in oil and oil mediums afford wonderful variations in values, color, light, texture and shadow. I particularly enjoy using translucent pigments to try to achieve deep, rich, glowing layers of color.
Portraits of People and Pets
When I do a portrait of a person or an animal, my goal is to capture the individual’s personality. Their body language and expression is key.
Animals in particular express themselves with such candor and honesty. Through the look in their eyes, the tension in the jaw and mouth and overall body posture, they speak to us.
I especially like the simplicity of doing them in pencil. A camera just will not do the job.
Watercolor
Watercolor paints, especially the transparent pigments, impart an ethereal quality that I find enchanting. Working in wet watercolor paint also gives a spontaneity to the image that is unique to the watercolor medium.
Mixed Media
Using pen and ink along with watercolor or colored pencils can give the work an illustrative quality. The pen and ink lines bring the image to life in a special way.
Silverpoint
Silverpoint is an ancient drawing technique used before the invention of graphite pencils. Silverpoint is not often practiced today. A silverpoint drawing is done with a silver-pointed stylus. Used like a pencil, the artist draws on paper coated with gesso or primer (in centuries past they used powdered bone). The stylus creates a fine durable line composed of silver fragments. Other soft metals such as lead, tin, or gold can be used. The technique was used by medieval scribes on their manuscripts, then by old masters such as Albrecht Duhrer, da Vinci, and Raphael, too name just a few. Over time, the silver tarnishes, which gives the work an added dimension.