Michelle Lucking is an award winning, international pastel artist specialising in realism to create large scale, beautiful seascapes and underwater portraits. Her art explores the contrasting raw power and calm serenity of the differing states of water, and the technical challenge of capturing both its translucency and movement. Lucking’s interest extends to both the anatomy of water and the human form, and how the two interact; how light and water refracts the human form into abstract shapes dissected by light and shadow that still resemble a person. A keen sea swimmer and photographer, Lucking draws on her own reference photos and immediate experiences of the sea to recreate and convey the emotions and narrative of water. Using realism, light and movement, Lucking pulls the viewer into her paintings. Her work is collected and exhibited internationally and in 2017 she won the prestigious Annie Longley award at the annual British Pastel Society exhibition. She is brand ambassador for the internationally acclaimed pastel company Unison Colour, and has been featured in several magazine publications including Artist and Illustrator.