ArtistsNetwork.com 47“I’ll move things around to suit the Meet the Artist
composition,” he says, “and I’m very
aware when I’m painting of where the
eye travels fi rst, where it travels next,
and so on. I’ve become really adept at
manipulating the viewer’s eye so that
I can more or less predict what will be
looked at fi rst, which helps me with
the composition. I can try to push
things away that I don’t want to be
important or bring things to the fore
that I do. Using composition as a
device to make the viewers see what
I want them to see is an important
aspect of my work.”
It’s a valuable and, possibly, a rare
ability—something to aspire to, but
possibly diffi cult to learn. When
teaching in Scotland, McEwan tells
students that it’s a case of taking a
metaphorical step back and recording
what you see. “I allow myself to scan
the painting as though I’ve never seen
it before and try to be aware of what
I’m looking at,” he says.
Angus McEwan (angusmcewan.
com) studied at Duncan of
Jordanstone College of Art &
Design, in Scotland, graduating
in fi ne art and printmaking with
a post-graduate diploma in the
same discipline. He’s a member
of numerous international
watercolor societies, and his
work is featured in many private
collections throughout the world.
He has had 21 solo exhibitions,
numerous collective shows and
has been recognized with more
than 30 awards.A painting, McEwan believes,
should work on two levels: from a dis-
tance, so that it has impact, and from
close up, when it should give more.
“Th ere’s nothing more distressing
than seeing a painting and thinking,
‘Oh, that looks great,’ and then you
walk up to it, and there’s nothing else
to it,” he says. “It’s just a couple of
loose washes that look really great
from a distance but fall apart as you
approach. I’m trying to create that
high impact from afar, but also reveal
more detail as you approach. I want
you to look for awhile. I don’t want
you to glance at a painting and then
walk away. I want you to spend a bit
of time with it.”
No matter how many times you
magnify or revisit McEwan’s images,
you always fi nd something new. WALondon-based Louella Miles (writers4
management.com) is a writer, publisher
and an “artist in any spare time.”