http://www.michewatkins.com ‘Intimacy’ is finished and I decided after all to change the name, thanks to an idea from a Twitter follower of mine. So now it is ‘Stay a Bit Longer’ which I think does work with this painting. I look at it and see the woman trying to persuade her lover to stay a while, whereas he is beginning to get itchy feet.. maybe he is married to someone else. Only my interpretation of course; that is why I paint narrative figurative paintings, so that the viewer can form their own opinion of what is going on. I have struggled with the light in this painting, another lesson learned as I went along. I took the photo into the light from the window, so had to imagine for the most part the shading on the flesh for both figures. In a way this was a good exercise for me and it meant I could be a bit more experimental with my colour palette. I dislike using brown and wherever possible will use blues and purples instead – makes for a more interesting painting I think. it will be available via my website http://www.michewatkins.com for £350. My next painting is…
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http://www.michewatkins.com Well I am into week 3 of this painting and am edging towards stage 5) of the Creative List. I know I am too impatient and want to get down to the details, but have to persevere with the painting as a whole first. I always make the mistake of going into the most difficult bit, the flesh first and making a hash of it; whereas if I work around the figure first, I can then use the colours in the backgrounds to blend in with the flesh colours and this always completes the harmony. But I never, ever learn…. For instance this morning I discovered (again) that if I blend the pale blues and lilacs of the walls, curtains etc., into the pinks, and warm colours of the flesh I get a skin tone that seems to work within the whole painting. I may change the name of this painting (feedback from a loyal Twitter follower who has a way with words..) to Stay…Just a little bit longer. Rather like that. Any thoughts from anyone out there? Feedback is always welcome. I am always available for Skype tutorials on a one to one way basis. Please see…
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Time for a start on a new painting, always an exciting time for me. This one, at the moment entitled Intimacy has been inspired by the work of http://www.snowglobeman.blogspot.com a very talented author and sensual poet whose work I am illustrating along with another talented artist. Have a look. This painting is very much at the first week stage, so please make allowances…. Having worked for a few years in more muted colours, I am now having huge fun with a brighter palette and again have Michael Harding paints to thank for this. Beautiful, vibrant pigments and although more expensive, they are so ‘true’ I don’t have to use as much paint to get the desired effect. I am particularly drawn to blue shades, the turquoises, light, mid and dark blues and then on to the purples. Contrast these with the complimentary colours of orange and I feel I am getting somewhere. Also the contrast of light and dark works well….not quite Caravaggio but along those lines. However there are always the six stages of a painting to go through as illustrated in the attached image. I usually spend a lot of time at stage 3! I am available for…
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