I haven't met Madelyn yet, but I'm hoping to soon. I found her while searching for other local Denton, TX artists to network with. Madelyn refers to herself as a representational painter. If she means that her work represents perfection, then this is completely accurate. When she first sent me her images, I saw the thumbnails and wondered if I had been wrong to reach out to her thinking she was an artist when in fact she is a photographer. The images looked so crisp and vibrant, I thought that they surely could not be paintings. Upon maximizing the images, the brushstrokes became evident and I was even more impressed than the first time I saw her work. It's all beautiful, but her food-themed paintings are especially mouth-watering. The way she captures the richness of the subjects is enough to make me want to make a trip to the closest bakery and stuff my face. Take a look and let me know if you feel the same.
To purchase prints of Madelyn's work, visit www.artbymadelyn.com and click “SHOP” in the upper right corner to get directed to the prints for sale. To purchase a painting or get a commission done, e-mail her at artbymadelyn@yahoo.com.
Instagram: @artworkbymadelyn
Twitter: @artbymadelyn
Facebook: Art By Madelyn
Website: www.artbymadelyn.com
Q: How long does it typically take you to complete a piece of artwork?
A: It depends on the pieces sizes and complexity, but to give you an idea it can take me as little as 1 week to complete a 12” x 16” and about 3 to 4 weeks to complete a 36” x 48.”
Q: What's your preferred medium and why? What are the best and worst things about working with this medium?
A: I enjoy working with mediums like graphite, watercolor, and color pencil, but my preference would have to be oil paint. Ever since I learned how to use oil paint in 2007 during a summer program at the Kansas City Art Institute, I fell in love with the medium. I love the smell, consistency and vibrancy from the colors.
The best thing about this medium for me is definitely how slow oil can dry, allowing me more time to move the paint when need be. The worst thing about oil paint would have to be how toxic it is. I regularly use cadmium paints, so I make sure to protect myself with gloves.
Q: What's your process for creating a new piece of art?
A: The very first thing I do before touching a paintbrush is examining the reference photo used for the painting. I literally stare at it for 5 minutes, figuring out the color palette and what parts of the painting I would start with first. I then lightly wash the image onto the canvas, mix several colors for 15-20 minutes and begin painting.
Q: What's your favorite art-related book, blog, magazine or other resource?
A: ART/WORK by Heather Darcy Bhandari and Jonathan Melber is a book that EVERY artist pursuing an art career should have. This booked helped me become more organized by creating income, expense and inventory spreadsheets, and gave me valuable information about consignments, loans, commissions, gallery representation and a plethora of other valuable information. My mother actually gifted me this book so, thanks mom!
Q: What's your favorite subject to draw or paint?
A: I LOVE painting food! I didn’t realize how abstract food could be until I painted my first food painting Vert Goodness. I think what intrigues me the most is that making food is an art form that isn’t only admired by how well the dish is plated, as if it were a painting itself, but how wonderful the smell is and how good the taste is.
