Image 2: Sleeping Man, 2007, Oil on canvas
Image 3: Torso, 2011, Oil on canvas
The work of Ellen Altfest looks very creepy and almost abstract at first glance. For instance, her work entitled Armpit, you might not realize what you're looking at immediately. Most of her paintings are done in this style, a very zoomed in view of the male figure. When she started her career she painted a lot of vegetation and the detail she portrayed in plants definitely carries over to her detail in the skin of her male figures. The gradual color changes and attention to detail in the hair on the body are what stand out most to me. You can tell the skin is alive and very fleshy, very touchable with almost a soft texture. Every body part looks so well rounded because the shading is done very gradually with a light touch. The highlights and shadows balance one another out to create a visually cohesive image. I especially like that she uses purple to shade for the dark areas on the skin. Not using black makes the figure seem much more alive.
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