The first thing I see as I look at this photographic image of my painting is that the girl looks as if she has a beard, something I didn’t notice from looking at the actual painting, and which will be sorted by next week 🙂 As an artist,  I get so absorbed in the painting of the piece that sometimes I just do not see the wood from the trees as I am too involved in the creating of the work and I am sure other artists will identify with this. This is when the camera is such a good tool. Taking a photo of the work will show up any areas that need resolving and which have not been noticed before. Strange how this works,  but it just does. It’s the same when I hold up the painting to a mirror or just hold it upside down, any points needing to be sorted out are shown up instantly. I hesitate to use the word ‘mistakes’ as that involves negative connotations and I have had enough of negativity… We artists are sensitive souls at the best of times, so we don’t need negativity thrown at us! Looking forward to getting…
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I am beginning to add depth to the painting starting with changing the green shade of the walls subtly and then incorporating that shade into all the other colours; in the flesh of the girl’s arm in the foreground, in the glasses for the Margaritas ( or are they Mojitos ) and in the wood of the background seating, etc. It is amazing how, by doing that, the whole painting starts to come together, unifying the composition. I spent years painting individual parts of a painting separately, compartmentalising them, and the end result was a piece that to me, lacked form and seemed static. Â I always seem to find my way the long way round, but I am getting there with this work and I particularly like the vibrant colours in this scene. Most people will identify with that Friday feeling, of finishing work and sitting in a bar, restaurant etc., with friends relaxing over a glass of wine and looking forward to the weekend ahead. Next week the detail starts; in the meantime if you would like to be kept up to date with what I am up to in the future, please sign up for my Newsletter at…
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I lived in Cape Town for five years until fairly recently and one of my favourite haunts was a Mexican restaurant called Panchos in Observatory’ where I discovered the pleasure of Margaritas big time. It was, and still is, a vibrant area and this restaurant is right in the middle of it.  I saw these two girls there one Friday night, enjoying their evening, eating their Tacos, drinking Margaritas and I just thought it would make a great painting. I have kept this photo till now and am ready, hopefully to do it justice. I am not a fan of the colour green usually, for some reason, but this vibrant shade  on the wall just has to be kept in, as it touches and adds colour to so much around it, the glasses, the jacket, the hair and even the flesh. The painting would lose a lot and become boring without this rich colour.  So be it! Do sign up for my Newsletter at the top of the Home Page if you would like to be kept up to date with what I am up to. I will be showing my work at the Affordable Art Fair in Hampstead, London…
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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
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“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…
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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…
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I am putting up two quotes by female artists this week as I feel they are both relevant to me and my work in a way. I have not exactly been terrified all my life as has Georgia O’Keefe, but I have certainly had to surmount numerous obstacles throughout my life to get me where I want to be now, being a full time artist painting every day and loving it.  And Elaine De Kooning, well I know exactly where she is coming from; but I have been so lucky in discovering Twitter and building up a core of followers who like my work, give me good feedback and encourage me on and this has been a HUGE help in my moving forward. So thank you, thank you to all those on Twitter who follow me. You have no idea how much you have helped me! And by the way, I don’t think female artists are tougher as Georgia says, we all have very thin skins when it comes to our work… It is women who interest me, and whom I want to paint. I want to paint strong, independent women, happy in their own skin, just doing their own…
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The original photo has a Christmas tree in the background that I was going to leave out. However I then decided that it would add colour to what would be another monochromatic painting (apart from the fabulous red hair) and add balance to the composition so have left it in. Â The odd red bauble will also add interest I think. The Christmas tree also lent itself immediately to the title I have given this work. I am greatly indebted to Tom and Natalie Snow (@snowglobeman on Twitter) for the use of this photograph of Natalie. I hope I can do justice to her beauty. By the way, do have a look at Thomas’ wonderful sensual poetry, great talent there. I may yet change the colour of the dress as at the moment it is too similar to the sofa, but time will tell. The best part for me though is the fabulous red hair and I am really looking forward to getting down to all the detail and lights and darks that can be painted into such luminous hair. I will be sending out my first newsletter this month so please sign up at the top of my Home Page…
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A very happy new year to you all and thank you for your support as I go along with my great passion, my art. I am very excited about 2016 artwise for me and will tell you more as I go along. This piece, ‘Waiting, Wishing, Wanting’ is now finished and available on the website. I have been making use of glazes to get the depth of tone that I wanted and think I have achieved the right effect. Having the light source coming from one side makes for a more interesting composition and I want to work more along these lines. My next work is going to be a redhead and I am very excited about this. I have wanted to paint a redhead for sometime and had someone in mind to model for me, but in the meantime, Thomas Snow (@snowglobeman) one of my great supporters on Twitter asked whether I would like to use his wife as a model who is….a redhead. As a result, he has sent me some wonderful images of his beautiful wife and I am very excited to be able to start a painting of her as my next work. Watch this space,…
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I had great feedback on Twitter etc on a name for this work and thank you to all who contributed. In the end I went with Waiting, Wishing, Wanting, which I think sums up perfectly what this young woman is feeling. Thank you to the person who contributed this title, you know who you are! Which brings me to a quote from Edgar Degas : ‘Art is not what you see but what you make others see’. I hope this is how people see my work as a narrative figurative artist and why I moved away from straight portraiture. I am painting a story  on which you, the viewer, can put your own interpretation. Art is of course subjective so I shall never please everyone! I am truly delighted to have been accepted onto the online exhibition called New Beginnings with Manhattan Art International. Please have a look at www.manhattanarts.com to see more. Sorry I can’t seem to copy the link across for some reason but it is definitely worth a look. I am also now showing my work with Clifton Fine Art in Bristol, so if you are in the area please do go in and have a look.…
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