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Brandon McGill
ith his wavy dark hair and beaming smile, Valley artist Brandon McGill isn’t exactly the spitting image of Salvador Dali. He lacks the mad Spaniard’s intense diamondcracking stare and gravity-defying mustache, but the two men do share one thing in common: a warped perspective on the world.
Body painter Brandon McGill turns real-life flesh & blood into fairy tales By Ashley Naftule. Seth Powers, Bear Michael, and Nola Yergen in GODS AND MONSTERS
“I feel like I have a very Salvador Dali-esque brain,” McGill says over the phone with a chuckle. “I like to exaggerate things,” McGill said. “Where I’ll be like, ‘Oh, let’s make these legs longer.’” Describing his personal aesthetic as equal parts Tim Burton and Salvador Dali, McGill’s visual art is bold, Surrealistic, and bursting with fantastical imagery. It’s also not entirely family-friendly, as one of McGill’s favorite surfaces to paint on is the human body itself. If you’ve been to your fair share of underground shows, fashion events, or goth-friendly happenings over the years, you’ve probably seen McGill at work. The body painter is an old hand when it comes to painting live. And if you haven’t seen McGill at work, you’ve probably seen his canvases: Naked men and women transformed into satyrs, fauns, faeries, demons, succubi, aliens, snow queens, and all manners of things that looked like they emerged out of a Todd Haynes’ production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. McGill has received considerable acclaim for his work as a painter and makeup artist. Phoenix Magazine named him their best artist of 2018; his work has been featured in Out Magazine and The Advocate; his music video for “Dually Noted” won Music Video Of The Year by the Arizona Republic; and he’s also received a Makeup Artist Of The Year award from RAW Artists. “My creative journey has taken a lot of twists and turns,” McGill says, reflecting on his evolution as an artist. “I’ve done everything from music to deejaying to canvas art.” It was his love of working with 2-D art that led him to using skin as his muse and canvas. “One of my canvas models who I was painting on campus at the time asked me to paint him. We posted it online as a kind of joke, and then 900 body paintings later…” It’s easy to find the idea of body painting risqué and titillating, but the truth is that it’s a very tricky process to master — and one that comes with a unique set of challenges. “For one thing, you have to deal with the fatigue of the model,” McGill explains. “Them being able to stand and be comfortable.” It’s one area where the canvas artists of the worlds have an advantage: You never have to worry about your Michael’s
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OCTOBER 2019
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EchoMag.com
FEATURE STORY
