Little Miss Innocent......

 Little Miss Innocent

Pure Watercolour

Arches 140lb

Approx
20x 14in

I loved this photo I took of my little granddaughter Zahrah. She has a permanent look of "Butter wouldn't melt" on her face, but like so many at her age, she is an absolute little darling, with a little devilish spirit. She usually checks to see if you are watching her before attempting to touch something she shouldn't, which was when I captured her with my camera. Such a sweet innocence.

This was started a while ago but have only just had the chance to finish it, and was also the same photo I  used  for the demonstration I gave at my recent solo exhibition in the Kington Gallery. 

I have really fallen in love with painting portraits, but find I now feel that need to express more in my work, something I believe all artists go through and something I don't believe can be taught, although can be inspired.  I believe as artists we have to find our own way there through painting and experimenting. I wanted to play with colour, the colour I see in subjects that isn't always evident in that first glance, or is it perhaps just a case of getting braver, as we all err on the side of caution when we first start out. I find that as i'm progressing i'm instinctively pick up the colours and placing them very quickly, and could almost say without too much thought, or perhaps again it's just that I have more experience now. For me this usually ends up with a more saftisfying painting.

It seems so difficult at this time of year with the bad light, getting my work photographed properly. It has a touch  more colour in the face, but as often found with transparent watercolours, it's sometimes hard to capture that other than to see it in real life. You can click on the picture to see it larger  where I find it looks better than the smaller version.