The Psychedelic Art of Derek McKeon

This post I introduce an amazing psychedelic artist by the name of Derek McKeon who is from Toronto, Ontario and is in his 3rd year at Ryerson. Derek's art is heavily influenced by nature and it is quite apparent in his work. Derek was kind enough to conduct a small interview for this blog. Check it out to hear some interesting conversation by me and Derek and to check out a few pieces of his art.

You Are Human

Hey Derek, tell us a bit about yourself.

My name is Derek McKeon, I enjoy all creative practices. I focus the most upon drawing and painting the most, but i also make music, video art and photography. I live in Toronto to work and go to school. I'll be going into my third year in Ryerson's Image Arts program for New Media.

Valley Noise

Who are some of your favorite artists?

That is a hard list to solidify, everyday I'm constantly finding new artists that I find influential. My opinion of my favourite artists has changed drastically over the years. I started out really digging the dark/bizarre work of Aubrey Beardsley, Gunsho, Pushead, Mark Riddick, Aaron Horkey, Roger Dean, and local artist Mike Parsons (Hey Apathy). I some what grew out of that phase and took interest in more psychedelic/Art Nouveau (Alphonse Mucha, Larry Carlson, Sonny Kay) and focused more upon nature. I have always thought of John Dyer Baizley (Baroness) and Aaron turner (Isis) to be my favourites in terms of art and music. The list is endless and consistently ongoing.

What influences your art?

A large portion of my influence is just day to day life. The experiences I have, the thoughts and feelings that run through my mind ultimately end up in the current piece I'm working on. I usually try and link raw expressions or feelings to literal objects and try to create my own open ended visual language or story. I find the most inspiration just being immersed in nature, whether it be a forest, corn field etc. Watching the natural ways in which life takes form and flows, i find the most influential.

Do you enjoy anything fantasy or science fiction?

Of course, I'm into a lot of H.P Lovecraft and old school horror/sci-fi. I own almost all his books/stories. His writing used to be of great influence on my older drawing style. As much as I love space, I must say I'm more of a horror kind of guy than sci-fi. I like lots of expressionist horror films from the early 1920's (Dr. Caligari, Nosferatu, Un Chein Andalou)

Velcro Sky

Read any good books lately?

I just finished the Glass Bead Game by Herman Hesse. I found it fairly interesting, it deals with cultivation of self-knowledge, its pretty far out. I just borrowed a few books on sacred geometry from a friend. Im interested to read those, and think it would ultimately be of influence to my drawing. I just need to find some time to get some solid reading hours in.

Kill Death

Have you seen any good movies or are there any movies that you really enjoy?

I rarely ever go to the movies anymore, so theres nothing contemporary on my favourites list. My brother recently opened my eyes to the work of Alejandro Jodorowsky. All of his films are great, but particularly the film "Swieta Gora" (The Holy Mountain) really impacted me. There was a huge boost in creative motivation after watching that film.

Ameggable

Are you working on any pieces of art at the moment?

Theres a few I'm working on. One dealing with inside joke subject matter and a dragon. A few tattoo designs including my own. Theres a large stack of drawings on watercolour paper in the "TO BE PAINTED" pile in my room. Theres also a bunch of sketches i need to finalize. I try and keep it at a constant rate, and at least try to focus two to six hours each day. Whenever I'm not drawing, I'll be thinking/writing ideas or short stories. This sort of creates a source book, that becomes useful to look back upon to cultivate material for future drawings.

What are your future plans for your art and outside of it?

Future plans are hard to come by these days. I'm just going to take it one day at a time and see where that gets me. Im going into sound design come september. Hopefully i can get grades for making my own albums and recording music. As for art, i suppose just keep living and see where it takes my art. I'd like to maintain distribution and creation on a personal level, helping out people that will ultimately help you. And to try and remember always... to go forth and thrash.

Zen Clouds

All images copyright protected and solely owned by Derek McKeon.