Marlon McKinnon

Born in Geraldton, Western Australia, I am a traditional artist of Filipino-Australian background. I work in oil paint as well as graphite, charcoal, ink, watercolour, and gouache. I am most practiced in figure but I also love to paint en plein air landscapes. I have lived in Melbourne the majority of my life. 

Around late 2023 I decided to improve my drawing and started going to life drawing at Hawthorn Artist Society. There I met many encouraging and like-minded artists and have been going ever since. Now I’ve gotten more involved in the Melbourne art scene as a whole. It started as a challenge to myself to improve consistently while also remembering to have fun and enjoy myself. I mostly like to learn from books and I’m an avid collector (or borrower) of anatomy, painting or drawing reference, and master works. 

Many artists inspire me but the works of John Singer Sargent, Anders Zorn, and Joaquín Sorolla I like the most. The way they capture the beauty of light and form in their portraits and landscapes are what I’m looking to recreate in my work. I’m exploring what painting means to me, how all my experiences and inspirations come together on a canvas.

I am delighted to have been selected as VAS Hansen Little Coterie 2026. While I am mostly self-taught I have recently completed a term in Monotype with Marketa Kemp and I'm excited to undergo oil painting classes with Fiona O'Byrne at Victorian Artist Society, and Painting the Figure with Joe Whyte at Hawthorn Artist Society.