Michael Griffith:
Those who have seen Michael Griffith’s paintings are in awe of his work, but Michael himself did not realize his potential while he stood on the sidewalk everyday as a watch repairman some years ago, doodling in his free time. It was passersby captivation by this doodling and later drawings that led him to where he is today.
One of his recent pieces that he posted on Facebook is a digital painting of a woman wrapped in a sheet having her morning coffee. Titled ‘Morning Glory’, it has fascinated many who continue to commend him for his incredible skill. ‘Morning Glory’ is among Michael’s more than 100 most-treasured pieces, although his work in total far surpasses this.
Having only decided to try digital painting in July, though he purchased the device a year prior, Michael has mastered this skill already, though he remains modest about his talent and is quick to say that he has not yet mastered art in general but is still learning. His work, however, tells another story.
Asked whether digital or traditional painting is better, Michael says it varies. While it may be easier to put together a digital painting, persons tend to lean more to traditional painting because they can pick up more on brushstrokes and texture of the work. The downside of traditional art is the storing of the actual pieces, while digital art can be saved on a device.
Another painting that intrigued Michael’s audiences was one done traditionally that portrayed a woman coming to life off a paper while being created by an artist. “I wanted to toy with the concept of a creator creating but encompassing it into one piece so for me it was more of depicting the interaction between the artist and the art, while trying to capture it from a third person’s perspective,” he explained. The piece, titled ‘Animated’, was created through with the use of pencil, crayons, charcoal and watercolour.
Michael’s fascination with art began somewhere between the ages of seven to nine, he said. Sometime during this phase of his life, a cousin of his was visiting from Trinidad. “At the time his artwork, which I later realized were doodles, fascinated me. So, that was the genesis of my interest in art. He had drawn some sight profiles of people. They weren’t that good, but I became fascinated and I never let that go since.”
Though his obsession grew, Art was never offered as a subject at his primary or secondary schools and remained a hobby he indulged in. Michael admitted that he spent more time creating the cover pages of his assignments than he was pleased to acknowledge, smiling as he said so.
Choosing the Technical Drawing stream was the closest he came to doing Art at school. Though his drawings surrounded construction, it was good enough for him. Asked whether his skill brought him popularity, Michael said that in fact he always considered himself one of the less popular students, until at a school concert when it was asked who the most