New work, week 2. 2 Nov 2016

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I think this painting will benefit from a slightly looser style as I do not want to paint in all the detail in the background. Painting in the people, the shutters and windows etc will take the eye away from the main composition which is the couple, she in her brilliant yellow dress. I will, however, put some more emphasis on the Arena as it is such a spectacular building. Shadows will be important and I am making use of the complimentary colours on the Colour Wheel used by artists everywhere. So against the lemon yellow of the dress I will use my favourite shades of blue, purple and light blue for the foreground and the same in the Arena, although adding in a touch of Naples Yellow and Burnt Sienna here. Michael Harding paints are so wonderful for this sort of work as the pigments are amazing, so jewel like in comparison to other paints. More expensive, but worth the layout. The view, by the way, is Verona in Italy where I spent a great couple of days on my way through from Milan by train to Venice. I hadn’t planned to stop off here, it was an…

New Work, week 1. 26 Oct 2016

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Miche

‘Artists are people driven by the tension between the desire to communicate and the desire to hide.’ D.W.Winnicott I am driven by my passion to paint and I love putting up my works in progress week by week as I enjoy sharing the process whereby I get to the finished artwork. BUT… there is the other side of being an artist whereby I not very forceful and spend a lot of time alone, by necessity, at my easel quite happily. So yes….. tension! With this work, I was in Verona a couple of years ago, sitting on a bench in the sunshine with my camera to hand in case something caught my eye for a possible painting. I suddenly saw this young woman in a lemon yellow dress and the contrast with the shadows of the ground and the Arena amphitheatre to me was perfect. Yellow and purple are opposites on the colour wheel and compliment each other, so I will be painting layers of purple and blue over the lilac grey of the ground and likewise on the walls of the Arena. I think this composition will work. If you would like to be kept up to…

‘Nearly Ready’ completed and available. 19 Oct 2016

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Miche

Really enjoyed completing the detail on this painting. When I think a work is finished, I turn it upside down to check details again, as mistakes will always show up, not sure why. The same is true if you look at a work in a mirror. Maybe the eye gets too attuned to the work and you can no longer see the wood for the trees. Whatever it is, it works every time. I was tempted not to put in the fabric detail in the sofa, but in the end am glad I did as it adds emphasis. It’s always difficult not to overwork a smaller painting. Bigger works involve bigger brushes so less chance of that! Building up of glazes adds delicate layers to the work, which works well on smaller paintings. It has also been interesting painting square for a change. The Ampersand board has been a real find for smaller works. The smaller brushes glide so smoothly over the surface. I wanted to convey the eager anticipation before a girl goes out on a date, something I remember from my youth :-). It’s such a happy feeling and the anticipation is sometimes more exciting than the actual…

‘Nearly Ready’ week 2. 12 Oct 2016

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Miche

I am really enjoying the painting this week. As I said last week, I was told that a touch of red adds pizazz to an artwork and I realised again how true this is. I love the contrast between the red of the sofa and the black of the dress and adding a touch of red and black to the flesh tones is really pulling the composition together. It’s a gentle piece, a girl getting ready to go out, waiting for the phone to ring to say the taxi has arrived to take her on her date. I put the glass of wine in as she might be nervous and needs some Dutch courage, or maybe she is just having a glass of wine as she relaxes. The book is discarded as she is ‘nearly ready’. Much looking forward to the detail next week. This is a square painting for a change and is painted on Ampersand Board. If you would like to be kept up to date with what I am up to in the next few months, please sign up for my Newsletter at the top of the Home Page. I usually send these out quarterly so will be…

‘Nearly Ready’ Week 1. 5 Oct 2016

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Miche

A smaller painting, square for a change, and for the first time painted on Ampersand board on the recommendation of a fellow artist. It is a lovely smooth surface to work on and works well for smaller, detailed works. Not so sure how it would work for large paintings as the surface is so smooth. Will give it a try sometime. I feel this is a story of a girl getting ready for a night out. She has the glass of wine to relax with while she gets herself ready; the book is now abandoned as she fixes her shoes and waits for the phone to ring telling her the taxi has arrived. The dress has deliberately been toned down in colour to compensate for the bright red of the sofa. Red and black are favourites of mine as can be seen in my Line Arts. An art dealer once told me that a touch of red sells paintings and now I always look out for that in famous paintings .. Turner comes to mind straight away, Caravaggio another! If you would like to be kept up to date with what I am up to in the next few months,…

‘A Misunderstanding’ completed. 28 Sept 2016

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Miche

Am much happier with this painting now, having struggled last week for some reason. I have enjoyed adding in the final details and getting the horizontal lines straight enough so that the eye of the viewer is not immediately drawn to them (hopefully). Layering on glazes help to soften the skin tones and add depth to the man’s shirt. Lastly, it’s the adding in the touches of pure colour which complete the work for me. There is always a danger of adding in too much colour at this stage and then the painting ends up looking overworked. I have taken a few touches out as a result and I am now satisfied with the final composition. Could not resist making the guy’s bum a little neater too…. If you would like to be kept up to date with what I am up to in the near future, please sign up for my Newsletter at the top of the Home Page. I will be sending out my next one at the beginning of November. I am also on Instagram and have a a Facebook page called Miche Artist.

‘A Misunderstanding’ week 3. 21 Sept 2016

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Miche

Mid course on this piece and partly happy and partly not 🙁 Adding in my touches of blue and pink are definitely working and I will add in more next week once I have stepped back from the painting for a few days. Sometimes I get too enthusiastic with the splashes of colour and the result is overworked. I am also happy with how the dress is coming along, the shape and tones are working well. Not happy though with the girl’s face and spent too long on it this morning. I trained as a portrait artist and am spending too long trying to get a likeness, which is not necessary in a figurative painting such as this. I WILL get it right by next week…. I also need to work more on the man’s shirt, starting with the edging on the shoulder seam which needs to be raised a bit; the arm is looking too short at the moment and I think that is the reason why. If you would like to be kept up to date with what I am up to in the near future, please sign up for my Newsletter at the top of my Home…

‘A Misunderstanding’ week 2. 12 Sept 2016

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Miche

‘When I’m painting, I feel 30. It’s only when I stop that I know I’m not’. David Hockney. A statement I totally agree with. When I am at my easel, in the zone, I feel energised, alive, full of ideas etc. When I stop, I feel the back pain from having stood badly all my life at the easel and now at 63 paying the cost. But how lucky I am to have this passion to paint, a feeling which will be be with me till I die. Building up on last week’s painting and it seems the title has hit a chord with a lot of people, male or female. Misunderstandings happen so quickly and can take a lifetime to resolve (in some cases). I am longing to add in the touches of colour at the end which make the painting ‘sing’ like cerulean blue, turquoise and maybe vivid purple, but I have to be patient and press on with the underpainting for now. Likewise I am itching to ‘blonde’ up the girl’s hair but …. My recent oil paintings and Line Arts are on show with Clifton Fine Arts in Bristol and they are opening their second gallery…

‘A Misunderstanding’. Week 1. 6 Sept 2016

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Miche

A new work, and as I said in my last blog, a quieter piece after all that sunshine and high heeled shoes 🙂 Originally the couple were further apart in the photo I am working from, but decided to draw them closer together and crop the scene. Cropping nearly always improves a painting in my opinion. The title for this is, I think, what I am trying to convey. It is so easy in a relationship for something to said in the heat of the moment, and once said, too late to backtrack from. You are left with regrets. Alternatively, she could just be wishing she had asked for an Aperol rather than the red wine…… At the moment, the colours are muted, and most of the lines of the window are skewed, but with patience (never easy for this artist) all will be resolved soon. Can’t wait, as always, to add the splashes of pure colour at the end to lift the whole composition. If you would like to be kept up to date with what I am up to in the near future, please sign up for my Newsletter at the top of the Home Page. I send…

‘To Infinity’ completed. 31 August 2016

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Miche

So we have a title. I just hope you won’t all think of Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story….. I had so many great titles suggested from my friends on Twitter, it was really difficult to choose. However, I like the idea of our lady staring out to sea, to the infinite possibilities ahead of her, or indeed the infinite possibilities of what she may be leaving behind. Thank you to all who came up with suggestions. I loved putting detail of light reflecting off the water onto the beachball. To me it makes a real difference to the look of the ball, and also I have been playing around with the reflection of the ball in the water. In fact I have liked as always, adding in the details, the shine on the shoes, the subtle tones to the flesh etc etc. Decided to add a touch of blue from my palette to the mix for the flesh of the legs and am glad how that has turned out. Sometimes art is just about happy accidents in getting something to work. If you would like to be kept up to date with what I am getting up to in the…

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