DANNY MCSHANE
Hi!
Welcome to my website, LivingWatercolour.com -there are a few other Danny McShanes around so I hope you've found the right one. I paint watercolour exclusively and mostly plein air scenes around north-east Scotland. My Instagram and Facebook are dannymcshane365 (link buttons above).
I'm a self-taught watercolour painter having been a subsea engineer for most of my working life. Now I find myself painting, or thinking about it, most days. I live in Fyvie in rural Aberdeenshire with my wife, Jan.
When I discovered watercolour relatively late I was astonished by it. The sense of wonder isn't wearing off and I'm continually surprised by this magical medium in what I expect will be a life-long pursuit. I made the decision from the start to stick to watercolour because it's so capable yet has a simplicity and beauty all of its own... but even moreso because I fell completely in love with everything about it - the look, the materials and the feel of using it.
My favourite style is an impressionistic realism that shows off light and colour and lends itself to the rush of painting outdoors while managing to look carefree about it. I like those paintings best that have a lively spontaneity to them, that look happy to be paintings rather than as if they'd really wanted to be photographs. So not photo-realistic but not abstract either, just somewhere in the middle... toward the realistic side. The charm for me lies in the beauty of watercolour pigment on paper and the visible human touch that comes from painting directly with just a brush. I like seeing simple marks suggest just enough to conjure objects and moods and a sense of place. I also think watercolour does 'happy' better than any other medium and in the whole process I find a joie de vivre I hope comes through to the viewer. I get such a kick out of painting and being out in these places - and if any of my paintings can raise your spirits just a little, the exercise has been doubly worthwhile. That's my whole theory of art.
Feel free to drop me a line, at danny.mcshane@gmail.com, with any enquiries or just to say hello. Ditto if you're a fellow painter (or would like to be) and would like to join me to paint outside, just for the company.
Click here for info about sales & commissions.
Danny.