Megan Leduke, Cover Artist 2020/Volume 1
Megan Leduke is a writer and illustrator living in the greater Boston area, but is originally from the woodlands of New Hampshire. She has earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration from Montserrat College of Art and is pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in Fiction Writing at the Solstice Creative Writing Program of Pine Manor College. In her illustrations, she works frequently with mixed media, including acrylic, casein, and gouache paint with digital additions of color and texture. Though her focus is in the world of illustration, she often gravitates towards a more painterly aesthetic and aims for realism, allowing for her value and texture to be the whimsy in the piece. More of her work can be found at www.meganleduke.com
Megan’s Artist Statement:
After I heard that the theme of this edition of the Maximum Tilt Anthology would be “Please and Thank You,” I began to think about what that means in relation to physical symbols. I have lived in New England all of my life and when I thought about all the students and faculty returning home from all over for the Winter Residency at the Pine Manor College, which is currently coated in a thick layer of snow, ice, and bitter wind chill, I thought about that immediate reaction to frigid winter weather. I thought about big bulky winter coats, knit hats pulled over the ears, and thick scarves tangled up in loose hair that gets woven into knots that one has to untangle later—and felt a wave of immense gratitude. I feel so grateful to live in a state with four seasons, to have the clothes to keep me warm in the cold winter months, and to have a place to return to each year where I feel so connected to a community of talented and passionate peers and mentors. So there you have it! The subject of this piece is someone bundled up to the nines, someone ready to walk out and face the cold, eager to come back home.
This piece was done with casein paint on paper. Casein is a milk-based paint that works at the crossroads of gouache, acrylic, and oil paints. Like gouache, it is activated by water and works well for smaller pieces such as this (9″x6″). Like acrylic, it can be layered and works well with other paints for mixed media pieces. Like oil, it can be reactivated for up to seven days, and it blends easily. But the real appeal to me is that it has a soft matte finish and a loose, colorful appearance that reminds me of the whimsical fantasy cover art I grew up with. I wanted to capture that fun and whimsical feel for this piece.