Paint Party Friday Week 38 Year 2 Check In Featured Artist: Amy McDonald

image courtesy of Amy McDonald

Welcome to Week 38 of Paint Party Friday (Year 2) and to the next edition of our Featured Artist Series! (Would you like to be a PPF Featured Artist? Please click here for details!) This week's featured artist is a creative force to be reckoned with... Her prolific portrait painting and fearless experimentation never cease to amaze.  Please welcome Amy McDonald!

image courtesy of Amy McDonald

1.Please tell us a bit about your personal history with painting. (When did you start painting? How has your painting evolved since you first started?)

I think before maybe last year I was definitely more of a crafter - I just played around and made a lot of mixed media art - um, whimsical art - stylized, shit like that.  I got more serious about it and started spending more and more time painting each day and the more time I spent at it, the more I felt that my work was becoming more representational of my own vision rather than someone else's idea of art.  

image courtesy of Amy McDonald

This past year I've sort of started painting all of the time, like most of the day every day (unless I have an appointment or I am really sick - but like, I'd have to be pretty sick not to paint, and frankly that appointment better be very important).  

I really put in a lot of studio time, approximately 6-8 hours a day.  

Putting in the time, really putting in the time - even when I don't feel like it - has been the best thing for my art.  I had to figure out how to do things, how to go about things.  I used to always look for easy answers or for someone to tell me how to do something, but you really can't learn that way.  You learn to create by looking and working.  There is no other way.  Sit down and work.

image courtesy of Amy McDonald

2.What are your favorite techniques, media, and tools to use in creating your paintings?

Oil paint is my favorite favorite favorite, no question. I'll paint on pretty much any surface - except gesso board.  I hate gesso board.

I'm starting to learn to make portraits in encaustic wax, but so far they are looking so dreadful that I haven't shown any yet. I hope that after a few weeks I'll have gotten to a point where I am feeling better about them.  The media is tricky for me after becoming so used to the workability of oils.

Also, I'm over the  moon excited because iIm starting to learn tattooing.  I can hardly think of something more fun than painting on someone, but you know, also hurting them at the same time.

image courtesy of Amy McDonald

3.What is your favorite thing to paint? Why?

I love painting portraits - there are so many ways to reflect a subject's personality, just by color or style.

image courtesy of Amy McDonald

4.What is your proudest painting moment and/or greatest painting achievement so far?

I think my greatest achievement so far has been developing the 'I don't give a crap' section of my brain when it comes to followers or fans - that has really really helped me stay fresh and keep experimenting, even when  my experiments look like garbage.  That's my big achievement for this year, I think - learning to keep growing as an artist and keep experimenting despite what people think of the results.

image courtesy of Amy McDonald

5.What's next in your painting future?

Hopefully realistic encaustic portraits and some bad ass tattooing, but we'll see where art takes me...

um, so here are some links to stuff of mine:

Blog http://butterscape.blogspot.com

Facebook fan page  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Amy-McDonald/364930043584032

Tumblr art (process photos of my work) http://www.tumblr.com/blog/amymcdonaldxo

so, okay  (:  enjoy your weekend.

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Thank you for inspiring us all to paint, paint, paint, (and paint some more), Amy - we'll be interested to see your encaustic portraits (and tattoos)!

**Would you like to be a PPF Featured Artist? (Of course you do!)
Click here for more details!**

As always, please make sure to use your post URL address NOT your blog home page URL address as there are many late visitors who get confused as to which post is for PPF when they arrive (after Friday) at your website. If you are unfamiliar with Mr. Linky, an explanation of how this tool works can be found on Week 1 and Week 2 Check-Ins.

Have a wonderfully creative week everyone!