A Kelowna artist is seeing demand for his work increase after being signed by a prestigious U.K. art agency.
And now painter David MacLean’s work is expected to reach a wider audience thanks to one of his pictures being licensed to a large art licensing company in the U.S.
The painting depicts the vineyard lifestyle here in the Okanagan and is called Okanagan Vineyard Retreat. MacLean created it at his Kelowna studio.
MacLean was a traditional brush and canvas artist for 25 years before switching to producing digital art in 2003, after taking a college course to operate a large format printer.
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“I realized all the things I could do with a brush and canvas I could also do on a computer, using the same stroke techniques but with a much larger palette,” said MacLean. “It also allows for more layering, which was always something I used when I was using traditional methods.”
His works are known for their vibrancy and connection to familiar places and are now selling throughout the world after he was signed by a prestigious U.K. art agency.
“David has become one of our top-selling most requested artists. We have seen the demand for his work increase dramatically over the past year,” said Raul Turpin with MGL licensing in London. “My clients are now saying they know it’s David’s art by how his art draws you in, makes you feel like you can walk into the scene and become lost in it.”
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“My job is to find clients for our artists we represent but over the past six months MacLean’s art is snapped up within a day or even hours sometimes. I now have to decide who I’m going to sell/license it to as there are many suitors wanting it from all different continents around the world.”
“I sent Okanagan Vineyard Retreat to my agency in London on a Monday morning and it was sold (licensed) by end of that day to one of the largest American licensing companies in the world out of Newton Massachusetts,” said MacLean.
“These types of things often take months to license.”
With the demand for his work growing so quickly, MacLean is now painting seven days a week often starting at 5 a.m.
“I get so lost in my art that before I know it the day has flown by,” said MacLean.
To see David’s artworks go to artofdavidm.com.
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