realistic
fantasies
It was Van Gogh who said “I dream my painting and I paint my dream.” You would be forgiven for thinking that Elise Macdonald’s magical paintings are the result of something she dreams about, but they are in fact a combination of her own photos and other references which are put together and tweaked using Photoshop. “My aim is to paint fantasy realistically. Sometimes I’ll have an idea and I’ll scout out photographic references that I can use. Other times I come across an image that sparks an idea. Although I belong to ‘the generation of limited computer skills’ the computer has become an essential part of my process. I photoshop my ideas - juxtaposing images, changing backgrounds, introducing new elements, manipulating colours, refining the composition.... this is where I get to play ‘make believe’ - imagining and creating strange and wonderful scenarios. It is my favourite part though it can bring out the obsessive/compulsive side of my nature - I can’t stop until I get what I’m looking for. I carry on evolving the narrative by shifting things around until it feels right and makes some kind of sense to me. I’m slow. A painting takes about a month to complete - if all goes well.” Elise spends a lot of time preparing her painting surface. If she is painting on board, she seals with at least four coats of primer and sands until it is smooth; for canvas she applies gesso to the surface to minimise the weave. Until recently her preference was to paint on board but lately she has been working on canvas and finds that it is a more forgiving surface when it comes to blending colours. “Once I have the painting drawn up I print my reference images in black and white and I’m ready to start with a greyscale layer. I use a mix of ultramarine blue, raw umber and white to make my grey - in that way I can shift the grey from cooler to warmer as well as from dark to light. Although it will be completely painted over, it is crucial that the greyscale layer is as accurate as possible - I can assess if the composition is working and it makes the initial colour layer so much easier to apply because I instantly know what value is needed. I do multiple colour layers until I’m satisfied. My paint is fairly thin so the underneath layers add richness and depth. Finishing a painting can be problematic - it’s difficult to know when you’ve taken something as far as it can go. As Leonardo da Vinci once said ‘Art is never finished, only abandoned’. Elise has a BA (Fine Art) from Wits, and in retrospect has mixed feelings about the benefit of an academic art training “especially if the emphasis is on intellectualising, analysing and conceptualising art rather than acquiring techniques and the craft of painting or sculpting. If I'd had a more classical training it would have saved me a lot of time”. She has a wide variety of influences. “It’s impossible to pick out a single artist from the pantheon of master painters. Lately I’ve been looking at the works of French artist Louis Treserras. 17
