Artists to Watch | Megan J. Seiter - Southwest Art Magazine

Living line and color

Megan J. Seiter, Dolores, colored pencil/watercolor, 20 x 26.

Megan J. Seiter puts a modern spin on the classical still-life genre, using a highly realistic technique coupled with a contemporary sense of color and design. The young artist arranges her compositions with minimal surroundings to shine a spotlight on each subject’s distinctive characteristics. For paintings of a single flower, piece of fruit, or other object, she uses an almost scientific level of interest and patience to document the details that define a particular specimen.

: Megan J. Seiter, Ruth, colored pencil/watercolor, 12 x 8.

: Megan J. Seiter, LA Wedding, colored pencil, 12 x 7.

: Megan J. Seiter, Alice, colored pencil, 15 x 10.

Seiter’s medium of choice is colored pencil, which she uses to create precise lines, lifelike detail, and layers of luminosity. During 2020, she used her quarantine downtime to dive deep into all the drawing medium has to offer, fully exploring its possibilities and pushing its boundaries. “I did a lot of hands-on research with colored pencil brands, tools, and papers, and PERSIMMONS was largely a result of that research,” she explains. “I drew it on a smooth-surfaced museum board, which is very different than the sanded pastel paper I’m familiar with. I had to alter the way I apply my pencils to the paper and therefore learned a new pencil technique. I used pan pastels to build the blue background and a slicing tool to render the veins on each leaf, neither of which I had tried previously. Although it was challenging, it allowed me to expand my artistic horizons.”

: Megan J. Seiter, Persimmons, colored pencil/pastel, 13 x 12.

: Megan J. Seiter, Monroe, colored pencil/pastel, 18 x 17.

: Megan J. Seiter, Rose, colored pencil, 5 x 5.

These efforts have not gone unnoticed in the art community. She’s racked up a number of awards and honors this year: Best Still Life/Botanical in the international Jackson’s Painting Prize, Best Floral in the International Guild of Realism’s Spring Salon, and a Distinguished Achievement in Still Life Award in the American Women Artists’ Lifting the Sky show, to name a few.

Seiter is originally from Rhode Island and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. In 2009 she moved to California to pursue an art career, and she has been making her home and studio in the Golden State ever since. –Allison Malafronte