Learn about the process and inspiration of contemporary landscape painter Donald Demers. (Bonus: Discover Donald’s painting techniques in his video workshops here!)
By John A. Parks
Donald Demers paints outdoors with astonishing veracity, recreating the world in front of him with a richness and depth that challenges the limits of the genre. Thoughtfully observed and splendidly crafted, his paintings are further infused with a sense of atmosphere, a spirit of place and time that envelops and transports the viewer.
“I love to come upon the bigness, the truth of a scene,” says the artist, “and then begin to dismantle it mentally and reassemble it artistically. I try to start from a macro point of view and then move to a micro point of view, even though there’s a little contradiction in that thought.”
Largely known for his maritime paintings, often set along the coasts of Maine, Demers is also a masterful landscape painter. “The Lower Flume,” set in a lush corner of the Adirondacks, was awarded the 2025 PleinAir Magazine Award in the Art Renewal Center’s International Salon competition. The picture, a view of a wooded valley with a stream descending over boulders, is framed at the top by a bridge that partially shuts off the light from the sky. The resulting composition feels enclosed, and projects an intensity that is reinforced by the rich accretion of foliage; rocky textures; and dense, brooding shadows.
“It was a verdant setting, and I dove into the experience deeply,” Demers says. “I like to find variety in the foliage, but I’m not someone who paints every blade of grass. I get described as a painter who does highly detailed paintings, but I really don’t. I work with a lot of suggestions, and when I’m in a setting like that, I don’t have the time, nor do I have the interest, to map out every detail. So I just try to find the visual characteristics that exemplify the scene. I focus on finding the shape of a branch or the shape of a leaf, and once I have it, then it’s a bit of an archetype, if you will, and I can place it where I think it will help the painting and disregard the rest.”
Demers is committed to painting in direct response to a scene; he almost never uses photography, and his spectacular results would not be possible without his command of drawing, composition, tone, color, and texture — the fruits of many years of toil and hard-won experience extending back to childhood. “I started drawing as a toddler, and it was a way I communicated and identified with the world,” he recalls. “My art training began with my mom and aunt, both of whom were amateur but accomplished painters. My high school art teacher, Nellie Drumm, was exemplary in skill, instruction, and motivation.”
Demers went on to study art at the School of the Worcester Art Museum and then the Massachusetts College of Art. But disappointed by art school, Demers then spent a few years working as a sailor aboard a square-rigged sailing vessel, an experience he says changed his life. “For me it was a dream come true because I started studying sailing ships when I was 8 years old. I knew how they worked, but I had never been able to get on board one. I had all the classic sea experiences — you’re seasick, you’re filthy, you learn seamanship, and you’re going places in a way that you have never gone before. It helped me find out who I am and what I was. I was very fortunate that happened.”
The experience also gave him a deep familiarity with the sea, its moods, and its movements, which would later feed into his painting.
Read the full article in PleinAir Magazine, April/March 2025
Connect with the artist at www.donalddemers.com.
Editor’s Note: Join us for the 6th Annual Plein Air Live online art conference, featuring Kathleen Hudson, Kevin Macpherson, Kami Mendlik, and many more! The event takes place November 6-8, 2025, with an Essential Techniques Day on November 5. Learn more at PleinAirLive.com.
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