Megan Seiter is an American artist who graduated with a BFA in General Fine Art from Maryland Institute College of Art. She was announced as the 3rd Place Winner in the 3rd Edition of the Boynes Emerging Artist Award

Can you describe your artist journey so far?

My fixation with realism began the moment I picked up my first crayon. Like most children, my drawings looked like simple stick figures and smiley-faces. I drew them by the dozens, transforming my house into a gallery of colorful artwork. My goal, even then, was to create pictures that would accurately represent the world around me.

As a young adult I began attending figure drawing sessions, and fell in love with the human form. Each model offered a unique opportunity to explore texture, shape, and unconsidered beauty. I continued to study portraits and figures as an undergraduate student, and though my focus eventually shifted, this exploration of the figure left a lasting impression on how I approach my work today. I infuse many of my still life drawings with the same quiet intimacy that I did in my portraits. I’ve discovered that, like people, I can find surprisingly emotive qualities in inanimate objects. My compositions focus on the subject alone, without a contextual background, so as to shine light on the details that make each object distinctive.

I build my drawings with light layers of wax-based and oil-based colored pencils. Each of my drawings reflects my love for color, texture, and subtle value shifts. An uncommon medium among most professional artists, the pencils offer a relatively new approach to fine art work. They’re distinguished by their exceptional ability to render fine detail, and they become luminous and vibrant when applied in soft layers. Through my pencil work, I’m able to get close to the goal I set as a young girl. I continue to push the boundaries of my medium to achieve the highest level of realism that I can.

What inspired you to start creating art?

As a young child I was surrounded by artists. My mother was a renowned calligrapher and the owner of a successful printing business. She was also part of a large community of local artists. I had access to her inventory of tools, which included every type of paper and pencil I could dream of, and I fell in love with drawing at a very early age. Through my mother’s network of friends and colleagues I was exposed to a wide range of artistic professions, including book binding, illustration, calligraphy, and stone carving. Though I enjoyed every kind of art-making, I was most fascinated with drawing realistically. I loved the challenge of it as much now as I did then!

What inspires your work now?

I find inspiration in light, texture, and color, often in organic objects like fruits and flowers. The way that light touches an object, and the type of light have a huge impact on our perception of that object. New textures present new challenges, and keep me stimulated in the studio. Color provides richness, and I enjoy building multiple layers of different colors to create a vibrant drawing. Lately, I’ve been spending a lot of time at local farmer’s markets and flower shops. The variety of texture and color is unbeatable, and I almost always find something to inspire my next drawing.

What mediums do you work in and experiment with?

I work almost exclusively with colored pencil. Some of my drawings have a base layer of watercolor, or a background created with pan pastel, but 90% of my drawings are done with pencils. I use both oil and wax-based pencils, which each have their own benefits. Oil-based pencils are chalky, soft, and blendable, and because of those qualities they’re great for creating shadows and areas with soft focus. Wax-based pencils can be sharpened to the finest point, and are perfect for creating precision and detail.

Are there any particular brands of art supplies you prefer using (if so why)?

I use several brands of pencils, most notably the Luminance set by Caran d’Ache. They’re high quality, long lasting, deeply pigmented, soft, lightfast wax-based pencils. I also work with Caran d’Ache Pablo pencils, Faber Castel Polychromos pencils, and Prismacolor pencils. In colored pencil art, the surface is also incredibly important. Most often, I use sanded pastel paper. It offers enough grip to be able to apply many many layers, and the texture is sandy but smooth, so it’s possible to get exacting detail. My favorite brands are Art Spectrum Colourfix Coated Pastel Paper and Canson Mi-Teintes Touch Sanded Paper.

Do you have any particular ways that you work through a creative block?

Just keep trucking! In college, my studio classes were six hours long. There was always a long list of assignments to complete outside of class. I had no other choice than to work through my creative blocks. It’s one of the best lessons I took from being a student: when I’m feeling blocked, doing anything is better than doing nothing. We all need breaks, and I do allow myself to take a breath in between each drawing, but continuing to create in the face of a block is the best way to get out of it.

How do you manage the need for perfection within your work?

There’s no doubt that I’m a perfectionist, but I’ve learned that perfection is subjective. I can look at one of my drawings and find ten flaws, and someone else can look at it and think that it’s perfect. There’s no one piece that I’ve finished and thought, that’s perfect! And I think that’s great — it keeps me on a quest to continually improve, work on my techniques, and push myself to make every drawing greater than the last.

Can you give any piece of advice to your fellow artists?

Failure is the best way to improve. Try something new — a new technique, a new brand, a different surface, a challenging subject — and see how your art evolves. If you fail and try again, odds are the second time around is going to go much better. If you become good at one very specific thing, and keep only doing that one thing, there’s not a lot of room for improvement. Instead, branch out and try something new, and then go back to that thing you were really good at. I bet you’ll be even better!

How do you process, come to terms with and even use other people's opinion of your work?

I really appreciate constructive criticism. My husband is my best critic. He studied photojournalism in college, and has an excellent eye for lighting and compositions. He knows me well, and knows where I tend to take shortcuts in my drawings. Before each piece is done, I ask his opinion and he always has good notes for me.

Are there any artists who inspire you creatively?

There are so many! Some modern still life artists that I love are Jeffrey T. Larson, James Neil Hollingsworth, Larry Preston, and Jo Barrett, to name a few. Daniel Massad is an incredible pastel artist — I discovered his work about ten years ago, and I was so inspired that I wrote him a letter. He wrote me back, generously detailing the technicalities of how he achieves such a high level of realism pastel. I still have his letter today! I also find florists to be incredibly inspiring, specifically Max Gill, Kiana Underwood, and a husband/wife team called Color Theory Design Co. Matt Gonzalez is a San Francisco-based artist who makes intricate collage-based art. I love his work, and have enjoyed following the evolution of it. I’m so inspired by his involvement within the art community — he’s a champion for all artists, and he reminds me of how important it is to stay connected and give back to the art community.

To view or purchase Megan Seiter’s work

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