Can tell us a little about yourself?
Doug: “I am from Jersey City in the USA.  I began serious plein air painting on the campus rooftops during my art school years at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn.”

What materials and techniques do you use?
Doug: “I use oil or acrylic on canvas or panels; sometimes I use gouache, casein, or watercolor on paper. My technique is generally using big brushes with a thin, transparent washes in the beginning to more opaque strokes with slightly smaller brushes near the finish of a painting.”

What subjects do you like to paint?
Doug: “I like the subjects that I currently live around, or if given the chance, while I travel. It’s about life, living and expressing the moment, the Now. Sometimes I paint about a memory or an invented place, but plein air painting is immediately intimate to me, similar to meditation.”

Did you study art?
Doug: “I attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, from 1990-94, and graduated with a BFA in Painting.

I’m building my art business day by day, but in the meantime I also have a job to pay the bills.
I like science fiction and fantasy art as well. I grew up in the 1980’s immersed in classic animation and gaming, and I loved the illustration art that accompanied those products.

Have you exhibited you art work?
Doug: “Yes, I have been exhibiting through small, local galleries and other community venues that regularly use artwork to promote the space or service, like restaurants, real estate companies, and the like.”

What is your speciality?
Doug: “Plein air painting. Usually oil on canvas, but I’m switching to water-based media for health concerns.”

Which artists inspire you?
Doug: “When I was in New York in the 1990’s and began cityscape painting, I took from a lot of different sources. Notably, the American Ashcan School at first, painters like Robert Henri, or John Sloane because they drew subjects from their immediate surroundings with such conviction and honesty. I also looked at the Barbizon school, artists like Theodore Rousseau, or Millet who painted rugged subjects with such drama and energy. The Russian landscape artists are exquisite masters of color and mood, like Shishkin or Levitan.
I have also incorporated what I’ve learned in plein air painting into larger, more imaginative “dream” landscapes.”

Connect with Doug Madill

doug@madillstudio.com
www.madillstudio.com
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