Chris McKay

Watercolor | Linoleum Block | Mixed Media

Chris McKay combines the fluid color of watercolor with bold carved linework to create a distinctive, contemporary style rooted in nature. His newer work features animals such as bears, fish, elk, and birds broken into colorful sections defined by strong black lines. The effect feels part stained glass, part printmaking, with watercolor adding movement and unpredictability inside the structured design. Chris’s earlier watercolor work focused more traditionally on wildlife, birch forests, botanicals, and seasonal subjects. Those pieces reveal the foundation of his current style: a strong eye for shape, pattern, light, and color. Today, his work explores the balance between precision and spontaneity, using carved forms and flowing pigment to reimagine familiar subjects in a fresh way.