About

MIKE McDONALD is an American abstract artist and graphic artist who lives and works in New Jersey. A graduate of The College of New Jersey’s BFA program (2002), he has been working professionally as a graphic artist for over 20 years and during that time pursued various artistic endeavors in the fine arts.

His artistic philosophy is one of constant experimentation and personal exploration, seeking discomfort in his methods to find new techniques that bring unique elements to each painting. Mike documents his exploratory process on his YouTube channel.

Mike finds inspiration for his work in modern graphic design, street art and graffiti, and contemporary graphic arts culture. He uses an ever-changing combination of bold brush strokes, stencil patterns, palette knife forms, spray paint, and splatter techniques in his work.

Artist Statement

Growing up I spent countless nights in the outdoors around a campfire. Fire is cleansing and spiritual. Gazing into the embers, it’s easy to get lost in the glow, the flickers of light, the warmth, and the layers of charred wood.

My goal with all of my paintings is to create something that evokes a similar feeling. Each painting is something that you can stare deeply into, each viewer finding something different beneath the layers and colors and discovering their own interpretation of the emerging shapes and compositions.

My work is rarely pre-planned beyond initial color choices and tools. An important part of the process is a certain degree of spontaneity, I have to let each new layer inform the next move, reacting to each new piece of the composition as it happens.