About Guy M, Centurion artist and art classes
Hello, Howzit, Hoesit, Dumela, Sanbonani,
Hi I am Guy McLaren and sign all my work with Guy M.
My journey with Art started one day when I was selling my home and needed something to cover the DB board in my kitchen. I was in my mid thirties and had not drawn anything that did not require a ruler since primary school. In my garage was some leftover black paint, white paint and some brushes used to paint the house. I also had a damaged hollow core door, I decided to paint the view from my back yard, I started by sandpapering the piece of board I stripped off the door painted it white, mixed 5 shades of white to black and just painted. The seascape was very rough but the pine tree brought it to something that didn't look absolutely terrible. I hung it up and few people said wow. I didn't think of it as impressionist, I just thought of it as something to cover something ugly.
Some years went by and I decided to try and paint a forest, I used acrylics on masonite and thought it was awful, I didn't think about it too much and some years later in my 40's I tried the forest with oils and was satisfied that it was not bad, it was an art piece that gave me more joy painting it, It was well enough liked that it is hanging in someone's house.
I played with oils and did some more paintings that didn't quite satisfy me, but a few of them were well enough liked that someone hung them in their homes. I had just turned fifty when I visited another artist in their home in Nelspruit and told them that I played with oils and wasn't happy with my progress, In our discussions I admitted that I couldn't draw for toffee. She gave me a book, Betty Edwards "Drawing on the right side of the brain" I spent a little time working through it but life got in the way, My paintings got a little better but I didn't paint often enough to really get better.
In 2022 Loadshedding gave me time to work through the book again and I did the first exercises and realised that my previous reading had improved my skills, but not enough to make me good. I spent around two weeks working through the drawing a face section, looking at other methods using both Google and YouTube and managed to draw recognisable faces. The first human painting I did that was recognisable was an exciting day for me.
My daily job got in the way but every painting I did was better than the one before.
I have now painted with water colours, gouache, acrylics and oils, My preference is still oils but I am experimenting with mixed media.
Now let me tell you what I think art is in my opinion, Art is a wide and varied field, it is creative and as long as you as the artist gains joy from the process, the finished project is not as important as the process, as an artist comparing yourself with others is folly, There will always be those that have better technique, better skills than you yourself perceive yours to be, Their style be it absolute realism or impressionism may not be your forte, but it does not matter.
I often get asked who my favourite artist is and this in my mind is like asking me to choose just steak, or just stew or bacon when there is fruit, cake and chocolate that are great. I am inspired by the fact that even Van Gogh's early drawings are not as good as his later ones. The proportions on the carpenter are nowhere near as good as woman mourning drawn less than 10 years later. Picasso has work that I think is perfection and other that I consider awful, choosing an artist I don't like is probably easier than choosing one that I adore above every other.
It is my goal to inspire and show young people that if I could learn to draw at 50, they can at a much younger age.
I was asked how I want people to interpret my art, my thoughts on this are pretty simple, love it, hate it, it matters not as long as you look at it. I am not painting parables or trying to convert people to anything, I draw and paint firtsly to soothe my inner being, hoping that someone will love my work enough to hang it on a wall. I look at other artist work and enjoy the feeling it imparts, I don't try and guess what was going through their minds, or analyse every paint stroke, It's enough that a painting makes me feel better about the world just because it's pretty.
I live to take photographs, love to paint and work to live, not much different to most people. I am going to focus on art and tography because my body is no longer as able to carry and lift heavy stuff. I want to spend the rest of my life giving back and sharing my knowledge and skills. I also make my own canvases the way the old masters did, only using more modern materials.
Feel free to look through my portfolios, join me for a a painting session. I spent time with Lourens Oosthuizen painting with him, much was learned over a cup of coffee, as well as chatting to him and other artists.
Hi I am Guy McLaren and sign all my work with Guy M.
My journey with Art started one day when I was selling my home and needed something to cover the DB board in my kitchen. I was in my mid thirties and had not drawn anything that did not require a ruler since primary school. In my garage was some leftover black paint, white paint and some brushes used to paint the house. I also had a damaged hollow core door, I decided to paint the view from my back yard, I started by sandpapering the piece of board I stripped off the door painted it white, mixed 5 shades of white to black and just painted. The seascape was very rough but the pine tree brought it to something that didn't look absolutely terrible. I hung it up and few people said wow. I didn't think of it as impressionist, I just thought of it as something to cover something ugly. Some years went by and I decided to try and paint a forest, I used acrylics on masonite and thought it was awful, I didn't think about it too much and some years later in my 40's I tried the forest with oils and was satisfied that it was not bad, it was an art piece that gave me more joy painting it, It was well enough liked that it is hanging in someone's house.
I played with oils and did some more paintings that didn't quite satisfy me, but a few of them were well enough liked that someone hung them in their homes. I had just turned fifty when I visited another artist in their home in Nelspruit and told them that I played with oils and wasn't happy with my progress, In our discussions I admitted that I couldn't draw for toffee. She gave me a book, Betty Edwards "Drawing on the right side of the brain" I spent a little time working through it but life got in the way, My paintings got a little better but I didn't paint often enough to really get better.
In 2022 Loadshedding gave me time to work through the book again and I did the first exercises and realised that my previous reading had improved my skills, but not enough to make me good. I spent around two weeks working through the drawing a face section, looking at other methods using both Google and YouTube and managed to draw recognisable faces. The first human painting I did that was recognisable was an exciting day for me.
My daily job got in the way but every painting I did was better than the one before.
I have now painted with water colours, gouache, acrylics and oils, My preference is still oils but I am experimenting with mixed media.
Now let me tell you what I think art is in my opinion, Art is a wide and varied field, it is creative and as long as you as the artist gains joy from the process, the finished project is not as important as the process, as an artist comparing yourself with others is folly, There will always be those that have better technique, better skills than you yourself perceive yours to be, Their style be it absolute realism or impressionism may not be your forte, but it does not matter.
I often get asked who my favourite artist is and this in my mind is like asking me to choose just steak, or just stew or bacon when there is fruit, cake and chocolate that are great. I am inspired by the fact that even Van Gogh's early drawings are not as good as his later ones. The proportions on the carpenter are nowhere near as good as woman mourning drawn less than 10 years later. Picasso has work that I think is perfection and other that I consider awful, choosing an artist I don't like is probably easier than choosing one that I adore above every other.
It is my goal to inspire and show young people that if I could learn to draw at 50, they can at a much younger age.
I was asked how I want people to interpret my art, my thoughts on this are pretty simple, love it, hate it, it matters not as long as you look at it. I am not painting parables or trying to convert people to anything, I draw and paint firtsly to soothe my inner being, hoping that someone will love my work enough to hang it on a wall. I look at other artist work and enjoy the feeling it imparts, I don't try and guess what was going through their minds, or analyse every paint stroke, It's enough that a painting makes me feel better about the world just because it's pretty.
I live to take photographs, love to paint and work to live, not much different to most people. I am going to focus on art and tography because my body is no longer as able to carry and lift heavy stuff. I want to spend the rest of my life giving back and sharing my knowledge and skills. I also make my own canvases the way the old masters did, only using more modern materials.
Feel free to look through my portfolios, join me for a a painting session. I spent time with Lourens Oosthuizen painting with him, much was learned over a cup of coffee, as well as chatting to him and other artists.