Please stop trying to eat your computer screen — these are actually just sweet time-lapses
Megan Ellen MacDonald's vivid paintings will make your eyes pop and mouth water
With titles like "Juicy" and "Citrus," Toronto-based artist Megan Ellen MacDonald's canvases might make your mouth water. Her vibrant paintings of fruit use classic oil techniques to look good enough to eat, and yet they have elements of kitsch and even sci-fi that ground them squarely in this century. For our "In Process" series that pulls back the curtain on artists at work, MacDonald gave us an inside look at how she achieves her eye-popping colours and signature compositions through three time-lapse videos.
But before we watch her at work, we asked her a few questions to learn more about her process:
Inspiration
Where do you get your inspiration?
Everywhere. I consider my paintings to be visual responses to my personal experiences and the world I inhabit. I find inspiration in everything from art, nature (and the absence of it), science fiction, found objects and social interactions. A lot of the themes in my paintings derive directly from my experience as a woman both in everyday life and in the context of being an artist, and I try to find connections between my own experiences and commonly used symbolism in still life and landscape painting through history.
Which other artists inspire you?
There are too many artists and too much work that inspires me to list here, but I think some major influences on my work are Rene Magritte, who challenges our perception; John Currin and Lisa Yuskavage, who constantly cross the line between good taste and bad; and Whistler and Monet for their explorations of colour and light.
My partner Keita Morimoto is also an artist and I would be lying if I didn't include him — he inspires me on a daily basis through both his work and commitment to his artistic vision.
Do you listen to music when you paint, and if so, what type?
Pop music. I know a lot of artists who will listen to podcasts and audiobooks while they work but I find it hard to focus on both painting and taking in information at the same time. I find when I'm listening to a book or good music I'm constantly pulling myself out of the painting to take it in and process it, so I usually have something playing in the background that I actually want to tune out while I work.
Method
How much do you plan a painting? What is your process to prepare?
I do quite a bit of planning and process work to get to a finished painting — especially with the larger paintings. I always create a digital collage/painting as a reference in Photoshop before I begin an oil painting. The digital sketches are usually very rough and I try to leave a lot of room for colour and shape interpretation in paint — the paint is a physical object and needs different treatment. If I'm working on a still life, I'll often paint the objects a few times from life before photographing them for reference. I find this helps me design the objects better and lets me explore their shape and texture in paint.
What is your go-to paint?
I've fallen in love with Montreal-based Kama Pigments! Their line of oil paint has a great range of colour and are made with walnut oil instead of linseed, which makes the paint slicker and easier to manipulate.
What types of painting techniques do you use to make your paintings look so bright and life-like?
It usually depends on the painting but I tend to use various layering techniques in oil paint to build up texture and colour. One thing I do in every painting without fail is to apply an extremely bright coloured ground on the canvas to begin with. I find when I do this I can achieve some really wild colour schemes and layer different colours to get optical colour effects. Above all else, I would say both studying colour and taking the time to paint from life (I teach a still life painting class once a week) has really informed how I create realistic looking spaces, textures and light in my paintings, even with the unreal colour palettes.
One thing I do in every painting without fail is to apply an extremely bright coloured ground on the canvas to begin with.- Megan Ellen MacDonald
How long does it take you to complete a painting, on average?
It can take anywhere from a few days to a month — working four to six hours a day — depending on the size and how many layers of paint are in the work. Sometimes I will re-paint whole sections of the painting multiple times until I'm happy, and other times the image comes together in one shot. I try to have two or more works on the go at the same time so I'm never waiting for paint to dry.
The finished work
What do you hope people take away from your work?
Because my paintings embody personal experiences, the way I perceive the narratives and objects in my work rarely align with how someone else does — which is in a way the exciting part of putting the work out there. While I can't control how others interact with my paintings, my favourite reaction is always when people tell me they would like to live inside the painting.
Do you get misconceptions about your art? If so, what's the biggest one?
I get a lot of questions about whether or not my paintings are sincere or ironic, and I find it's difficult for some people to accept that they are both at once. I hate absolutism and I think my work embodies that.
What is your next project?
My next show is at the Art Gallery of Peterborough in April. After that, I will be heading to the Vermont Studio Center for a month-long artist residency from May to June.
What keeps you going as an artist?
Coffee and stubbornness.
Check out Megan Ellen MacDonald's final paintings below!
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