35.4 × 31.5 × 2 in (90 × 80 × 5 cm) · $1,195
View workWilliam Watkin · Abstract relief painting · England
Colour made
physical.
William Watkin builds paintings without brushes. He applies multiple layers of acrylic, scraping and cutting into the paint to create thick impasto and deep texture. The structure is geometric, but the marks allow for gesture and chance.
View available paintingsPrices in USD · Complimentary US delivery
Crosshatch ExpressionismThe materiality of colourWorldwide delivery included
01 / The practice
Between painting
and sculpture.
Watkin calls his approach Crosshatch Expressionism. Built without brushes, the paintings combine measured bands and grids with dense, scraped acrylic. The paint is both colour and material.
Tools draw through the wet paint to reveal earlier layers and leave raised edges that catch the light. Repetition establishes order, while gesture and accident interrupt it. From different angles, the paintings move between optical pattern and sculptural relief.
02 / Selected works
The collections.
Four series exploring the relationship between colour, structure and relief. Select a painting for its details, dimensions and availability.
01 / Collector's Works
Collector's Works.
Three original acrylic paintings built through repeated layering and scraping. Broad chromatic fields, fractured bands and exposed underlayers create dense, shifting surfaces; each is presented on a substantial, painted-edge canvas.
33.1 × 33.1 × 2 in (84 × 84 × 5 cm) · $1,195
View work
35.4 × 31.5 × 2 in (90 × 80 × 5 cm) · $1,195
View workEvery painting is an original, one of one. These large works are ready to hang without framing: the painting continues around the 5 cm (2 in) deep canvas edges. Framing is not available for these works. Select a work for its complete photo gallery, surface details and secure checkout. Complimentary worldwide delivery and free 14-day returns.
02 / Large Stripes
Colour at scale.
Crosshatched fields of thick acrylic hold a tension between geometric order and expressive scraping. The surface changes with distance and light.
Acrylic relief painting · $995
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $995
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $995
View workExplore all 13 works in Large Stripes
Acrylic relief painting · $995
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $995
View workAcrylic relief painting · $995
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $995
View workAcrylic relief painting · $995
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $995
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $995
View workAcrylic relief painting · $995
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $995
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $995
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $995
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $995
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $995
View work
03 / Small Stripes
Structure in miniature.
The same brushless process takes on a more intimate scale. Bands of colour repeat across the surface, while the scraped edges give the paint its relief.
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View workExplore all 20 works in Small Stripes
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View workAcrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View workAcrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View workAcrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work03 / Scrapes
Layers revealed.
These older paintings are where Watkin’s scraping-led practice began. He built up layers of paint and scraped through them to expose what lay beneath. The marks and traces of that process remain visible on the surface.
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View workExplore all 28 works in Scrapes
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View workAcrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View workAcrylic relief painting · $495
View workAcrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work
Acrylic relief painting · $495
View work03 / The approach
Control, gesture
and chance.
The grid provides a structure, but the scraper never produces quite the same mark twice. Ridges and overlapping colour give the painting a physical presence. Watkin calls this meeting of control and chance Crosshatch Expressionism.
04 / About the artist
William Watkin.
William Watkin is an Oxford/London-based abstract painter whose work explores rhythm, structure, and optical interference through densely layered systems of colour and paint. Using custom-built scraping tools and repeated processes of layering, removal, and disruption, he creates tactile surfaces composed of concentric forms, fractured stripes, and shifting chromatic bands.
Balancing geometric order with improvisation, Watkin’s paintings generate unstable visual fields that appear to vibrate, pulse, and reorganise as the viewer moves around them. Their surfaces reveal intricate textures, exposed underlayers, and material traces that emphasise both construction and erosion.
Influenced by modernist abstraction, woven textiles, architectural systems, printmaking, and signal patterns, his work approaches painting as both a physical object and a perceptual experience. Rather than fixed compositions, the paintings operate as evolving visual structures in which colour, rhythm, and surface continuously interact.
Born in Stoke-on-Trent in 1970, Watkin is a self-taught painter whose works are held in private collections across the UK, Europe, and the United States.
05 / Collecting
Collecting
the work.
Select a painting to view its images, dimensions, price and availability. Available works can be purchased directly from the studio.
Collector's Works are $1195, large paintings are $995 and smaller works are $495. All prices are in US dollars and include worldwide shipping. Sold paintings remain in the archive.
US collectors. Shipping from England is complimentary. The studio covers any applicable US import duties and customs clearance charges, so collectors will not receive an additional import or delivery bill.
Buy with confidence. Complimentary worldwide delivery and free returns. If a painting is not right for your space, you can return it for a full refund. Read our 14-day returns policy.
Framing
Optional handmade floating frames are available for selected smaller paintings and works in the Large Stripes collection. The frame gives the textured surface and edges room to breathe. Other colours and finishes are available on request. The three Collector’s Works—Chromatic Echoes, Chromatic Frequencies and Chromatic Resonance—have painted, 5 cm (2 in) deep gallery edges and are supplied ready to hang. Framing is not available for these three paintings.
Where framing is offered, prices are $130 for smaller paintings and $200 for eligible larger works. Please enquire before purchase to confirm availability and delivery arrangements for a framed work.
Enquiries. For questions about a painting, additional photographs or collecting directly from the studio, email William Watkin.
william.watkin@gmail.comBuying with confidence
Complimentary delivery.
Free returns.
We want you to feel confident choosing an original painting from the studio. If a painting is not right for your space, you may return it for a full refund.
How it works. Email william.watkin@gmail.com within 14 days of receiving your painting to let us know you would like to return it. You do not need to give a reason. We will help arrange an insured return collection and cover the return shipping cost. Please make the painting available for collection within 14 days after notifying us, unless we agree another arrangement.
Refunds. We refund the full price you paid for the painting, including any standard delivery charge you paid, to your original payment method. Refunds are processed within 14 days of receiving the painting back or evidence that it has been sent back, whichever comes first. Please handle the painting with care and use the original protective packaging where possible. A deduction may apply if handling beyond what is necessary to inspect the work reduces its value.
If your painting arrives damaged or incorrect, please contact us so we can put things right. Nothing in this policy affects your statutory consumer rights.