Movement and scale

Michael C Hayes uses movement and scale to evoke a sense of awe in a familiar subject

Michael C Hayes’ angelic work.

Angels are a recurring theme in my work. This is certainly not the first, second or even 10th time I’ve taken on this subject, nor am I by any means the first artist in history to do so. Because it’s such a familiar subject, the challenge of engaging my audience is even bigger, due to their potential apathy.

I have to prove to them, in a split second, that they should care about this painting of an angel. I have to make it more than just the sum of its parts. Bearing this in mind, I set out to evoke awe, by making the painting really be about scale and movement. The angel will become merely the vehicle by which I portray these concepts.

From the very beginning I know that I want to suggest scale by having the angel’s wings envelope the entire frame and have her emerging from an atmospheric mist. I also think about how I could suggest movement with strong diagonals in the composition, an acrobatic gesture and secondary elements such as trailing hair and fabric.

After several years as a freelance artist Michael C Hayes now paints entirely for himself. www.artofmike.com

Radiating line composition This entire composition is built from arcing lines that radiate from the bottom-left corner of the image. Note how the gesture of the figure, the flight patterns of the birds, and even the feathers of angel’s wings bow...