Completed and happy at last…. I have so enjoyed the composition of this piece. It is a restful pose, very peaceful, although I am not sure how many women keep their shoes on to read their book. My shoes are the first thing to come off when I come home – it must be an enthralling novel. I was going to leave out the Christmas tree initially, not being sure if it helped the composition, but in the end I decided it added to it, hence the title of the work. Christmas is such a busy time and sometimes one just wants to escape it all and settle down with a totally absorbing book. The red hair has been a real bonus to paint and I am very happy with how this has turned out. So next in my head is a scene in a Mexican bar with some Mojitos to hand, girls having fun on a Friday night. More next week! Keep up to date with what I am up to by signing up for my Newsletter on the Home page of my website. www.michewatkins.com
Read More ›
“I dream my painting and I paint my dream”, Van Gogh. I get so excited when I start a new painting, because it is an idea I have had germinating in my mind for a while and I can’t wait to put paint on the canvas and paint my dream, exactly as Van Gogh said. The photo for this work was kindly given to me by one of my Twitter friends, Tom Boulton (@snowglobeman on Twitter) who writes wonderfully evocative sensual poetry. The photo is of his beautiful wife Natalie. It is a great photo, but has presented me with a few problems. Normally, I don’t necessarily concentrate on getting a likeness (I was a portrait painter in a former life) as I want to get on with the narrative side of my work. However……I DO want to get a likeness this time for both Tom and Nat’s sake, so will be doing one more week’s work on the detail! I am nearly there, but as with every artist I have ever known, we are always, always, trying to reach perfection and never seem to attain it… I was so pleased to be part of Manhattan Arts International’s Featured Artist…
Read More ›
New Work, Week 3, ‘Christmas is Over’. 20 Jan 2016
I like being a female artist painting women. Women interest me for different reasons. Sometimes I like to paint their vulnerability, at other times I want to portray their strengths and their confidence in their own bodies. Another time I just want to paint them in domestic scenes like this one above, reading quietly. Next one, however, I think will be women enjoying themselves out on the town….margueritas to the ready. A useful tip for all artists; if you hold your work up to a mirror you will see its imperfections. Likewise turn it upside down and again you will see any mistakes. I think the eye is so trained to look at the image in front of it that the viewer becomes impervious to any errors. Looking in a mirror or turning it upside down and the eye has to start again. That is my view anyway, and what I see straightaway is the nose is looking a bit bulbous, something I just didn’t see before. So, to be worked on by next week. I put a glaze of burnt sienna over the flesh tones, which I have also put into the girl’s hair and into the carpet. By…
Read More ›
