"Artbitrary" a painting by Zack G Goulet

This was one of the first serious paintings I ever did. I was going to college at McHenry County Community College and was taking as many art classes as I could. My instructor found this old big stretcher in the back room and gave it to me. I stretched it and would come in when there were no classes to work on it.

I remember starting out using black sharpies and white paint. I then basically colored it in with oil paints. I like how I outlined a lot of the black with white lines, something I don't really do anymore. Its a good graphic technique, it really makes the shapes "pop" out.

The name "Artbitrary" came from how there is so much going on visually, in the the piece. This was way before I had any understanding of the nature of reality and consciousness. I knew that everything was connected but I didn't really know how. I basically though, everything is art, no matter what. I would pull inspiration from thin air and funnel it into the work. Hierarchy of subject matter in the shapes did not matter, all is equal, all is of one.

I entered this painting into a contest the college was having. I thought for sure it would get into the show, but it didn't, I was kind of distraught after that. I ended up having a show at Starline Gallery in Harvard where an artist who lived and worked there bought this piece for $600 which was a lot of money for me at the time.