www.michewatkins.com So a new painting and a new title to think of again. At the moment I go with ‘Practising Her Moves’. Ideas from Twitter friends always VERY welcome. I decided on a cropped painting this time, as I don’t think I always have to paint a detailed face. People can decide for themselves what the woman looks like, the human eye usually works it out anyway. I feel the woman here is getting ready go out for the evening and is having a little dance in her new red shoes, feeling happy. It is a smaller painting 25 x 35 cm, and on block canvas so does not necessarily need framing. I have been taken to task for always painting pretty women and pandering to men. When I said that women also seem to like my paintings, I was again taken to task for pandering only to a certain type of woman. Thinking about this, I can say, hand on heart, that I have always drawn and painted women, ever since I was a young girl, drawing princesses, never handsome young princes, and I am not sure why this is so. I do paint men and this can be…
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www.michewatkins.com I have finished ‘Elation’ which is actually slightly darker in real life. I use Photoshop to try and replicate accurately the colour of the original painting, but in this instance I don’t think it is quite right. I use Photoshop quite a lot to enlarge certain areas of any photos I use such as eyes, mouth or a certain flesh tone and it’s a great tool. In an ideal world I would always paint from life, but a one bedroomed flat and work commitments elsewhere means I just have to resort to photos most of the time. I have much enjoyed this painting and think I will use the triptych effect again at some stage. I also enjoyed the use of a palette knife for the back wall which enlivened what could have been a boring wall. The size of the painting is 60 x 50 cm/ 24 x 20″ and is up on the website. On a different note, for anyone in London this weekend, I shall be exhibiting my Line Art paintings at the Affordable Art Fair in Chelsea through Neville Contemporary Art. Line Art is something that I evolved as the complete opposite of my figurative…
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Website www.michewatkins.com I think this will be finished next week and I am going to rename it ‘Elation’ – thank you for that title from a friend on Twitter. Thank you to those of you who thought up good titles, but this one word just sounded right to me. The woman is so elated with her new red shiny shoes…..a feeling I think many women will identify with. Every time I start a painting, I forget how difficult it is to get skin tones right and the more so as I dislike using any browns on my palette (and never use black). I far prefer blues, mauves, pinks and purples for tones as I think this makes for a more interesting skin tone, but infinitely more difficult in the long run. I never make my life easy. I have had to use brown in the floor obviously, but where possible have used yellow ochre and a touch of cadmium orange and red rather than straight brown. I have also added touches of the blues and lilacs which I used on the wall to pull the painting together. Regarding the wall, I tried endless possibilities here, but in the end have come…
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www.michewatkins.com This is just a working title, as usual I will need help from a certain Twitter follower as words are not my forte…. For this painting, I got inspiration from another artist who had used the same model in one painting. I had the benefit of a great model who came over to my studio with a range of different outfits and I was able to take a lot of photos for future reference and paintings. I would love to be able to always paint from life, but time and space do not allow this for me at the moment, so I have to rely on the photographs where possible. I wanted to explore the idea of women and their love affair with shoes, so I have positioned the model in different poses admiring her new shiny red shoes. I think I want to keep the background fairly plain, but aim to layer on paint with a palette knife as time goes on, not on the female figure though. I also aim to make more of the shadows – I like the shadows around the legs and against the wall and will give this more definition as the painting…
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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 www.michewatkins.com for £350. My next painting is…
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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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February 2015 Well I have finished these two paintings. The Tour Guide is 20 x 10″ and I have much enjoyed the use of colour here, but will not be painting a pavement square again for quite a long while if I can help it! It is oil on board and unframed. I have put it up on my website www.michewatkins.com for £300. The other painting, Relaxing is a small study of 8 x 6″ and is one of a series of small works I am doing to keep me a bit more disciplined in my painting style. With the bigger paintings I can get a bit too enthusiastic and throw paint around, sometimes to the detriment of the work, so every so often I get out the small brushes. These small paintings are all oil on board and work out at £95 each, such a bargain…. I am now about to start my next painting, the image of which I hope will be used in the Blog of www.snowglobeman.blogspot.com a very talented author and sensual poet (sometimes very sensual…ahem) but I love his writing. Will keep you updated next Blog. I am available for Skype tutorials on a…
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www.michewatkins.com Twitter: @MicheWatkins I have started two new pieces this week, as I was keen to use my new and wonderful Michael Harding paints. The colours are so bright and vibrant and coupled with my Rosemary & Co brushes which I also love, I was ready to get going. The first painting, The Tour Guide, is inspired by a photo I took when I was in Prague wandering around Old Square with my camera. I spent a couple of hours just photographing people doing stuff and then saw this Tour Guide standing alone. She looked to me a bit forlorn, waiting and hoping for people to come up to her, but maybe I imagined that – anyway it seemed to be a good composition in my head. The umbrella was orange, so I took my inspiration from that. I very rarely use browns and blacks in my work, preferring blues, purples and dark mauves to achieve similar effects. Then I mix up the complementary colours to get the desired painting I am after – so in this case yellows and bright turquoise. I am liking how this painting is turning out, but early days yet – time to make lots…
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With a start of a new year and finally getting over long bout of flu I have been thinking of new ideas. Having looked around on YouTube I have decided to offer Skype art teaching on a one to one basis. So if any amateur artists would like to send me an image of a figurative painting they are working on in oils I could critique it and then have a Skype session with them for half a hour to point them in the right direction. There could be a follow up session a week later if they so desired. Skype is a brilliant way to teach this way and of course is world wide. Let me know your thoughts. I would charge £20 for the half hour and £15. for follow up. Payment is via PayPal which you can find via my website www.michewatkins.com
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