By Michele Malinchak
Bundled in a thick parka, with hand warmers in his pockets and a full thermos of hot coffee by his side, artist Mark McCoy is ready to work. Standing on a foam mat atop snow-covered ground, he sets up his easel and prepares to paint. Despite the challenges of plein air painting in winter, it’s something he especially enjoys and has pursued for the past 20 years.. Despite the challenges of plein air painting in the winter, it’s something he especially enjoys and has been doing for 20 years. “If I’m painting at my house I can go in and warm up!” he said. The oil paints he uses won’t freeze unless it’s really cold. But even he has his limits. “Then I don’t go out!” he said.
Best known for his rustic landscapes, life revolves around his love of painting and the outdoors. Even when he’s not painting, he’s thinking about his next one, looking at books and visiting potential sites. He carries a small sketchbook with him as he drives around, noting scenes he’d like to paint and familiarizing himself with them. He’ll later return with his paints when conditions are optimal. “From the beginning, I have an idea what the painting is going to look like, a clear picture of it,” he said.
Sometimes he doesn’t have far to go to find inspiration. Many of his oil paintings are inspired from scenic outlooks on his 10 acre farm in Hilltown, PA. Set high on a hill with meandering trails and a pond, the property is a designated wildlife sanctuary for birds and other animals.
In addition to local wildlife, he and his wife, Carol have their own menagerie of four Nigerian dwarf goats, nine chickens, two ducks and four Jack Russell terriers. Carol has a degree in biology from Delaware Valley University and was a research biologist for Merck & Co. in West Point, Pennsylvania for 26 years. This has been their home for the past 23 years.
A weathered sign that reads “Sanctuary Trail” points the way to trails he and his wife often walk on their property. “I found it in the trash at Hawk Mountain,” he said. The couple are avid bird watchers and met at a birding event. Hiking and cross country skiing are other activities they enjoy.
Mark paints in oil on linen panels. Occasionally he will finish a painting in his studio due to weather and lighting issues, but he prefers the energy that comes from painting outdoors.
You can sense that energy in his brushstrokes which are visible and tactile. In the painting featured here, entitled “Winter Woods,” you are surrounded by stillness and can almost hear the rushing stream. All of his snowy scenes seem to glow in their own special light. “When you’re painting, you’re short handing an image, telling a poetic story and interpreting with technical skills into something pleasant for the viewer,” he explained.
Mark uses a split primary palette, meaning each of the three primary colors (red, yellow and blue) has a warm and cool version. For example, he’ll have a lemon yellow which is cooler and next to it put cadmium yellow which is warmer. Altogether he has about 10 to 15 colors on his palette.
Sometimes he’ll put in animals and things that could have happened in the landscape. A hawk swoops down in one of his snow scenes. If a horse is desired in the landscape, he refers to plastic models kept in his studio. Holding one in his hand, he said, “It’s far easier to paint from one of these than a moving animal.”
Mark admits that painting nocturnes are challenging and often refers to other artists to study their techniques. “It’s hard to duplicate the dark colors one sees at night,” he said. He’ll take photos of full moons like the Strawberry Moon and Wolf Moon and then try to recreate the scene in a more vivid way.
He likes the element of mystery in his work, leaving some things to the imagination. “When painting a landscape,” he said, “it’s not necessary to define everything. Say a stone wall, a beginner will try to portray every stone when really all that is necessary is to render a few. The mystery is all the different brushstrokes forming shapes that look like rocks, or maybe a vine growing along or a hole. Adding something that enhances a run of the mill wall. Maybe add some color that’s not there but just feels right!”
He saves all his old paintings and said, “Even though some are clunkers, they’re like learning tools.”
Born in Upper Darby, PA, Mark grew up in West Chester, Langhorne and Newtown. As a young boy he remembers copying Currier and Ives prints which were popular at the time. When he was 10 years old his father died, leaving him with little direction for the future. He graduated in 1976 from Neshaminy High School in Langhorne, PA.
In his early 20’s he worked for Boehm Porcelain in Trenton, NJ painting bird figurines and animals. The sculptures, known for their lifelike attention to detail, are collected worldwide. While there he was exposed to talented European painters and sculptors, many of them women.
Later he worked as a freelance sculptor for the Lenox Corporation, manufacturer of fine tableware and giftware. Mark worked out of his home sculpting animals and birds.
He held a number of different jobs but was always interested in painting. He was first inspired by the Pennsylvania and California impressionists and also New England artists who continue to influence his work. He’s especially drawn to artists Harry Leith Ross, Andrew Wyeth, William Lathrop and others in the New Hope School of painters.
Primarily self-taught, Mark began with watercolors and took life drawing at Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in the 1980’s. He also took mini workshops and studied with artists like George Thompson, Robert Beck and Peter Fiore. “You can learn so much just from observing how other artists work,” he said.
He has painted in the Annual Adirondack Plein Air Festival in 2021 and paints plein air every Wednesday with The Official Peace Valley Painters. He finds that he paints better if he doesn’t paint every day, building himself up as it were. “I’d rather do a few good paintings than several bad ones,” he said.
Watercolor artist Jane Ramsey also paints in the group and is owner of Simons Fine Art Framing & Gallery in Dublin, PA where Mark shows his work. Jane said, “Mark creates a sense of place, like you can walk right into his paintings. There’s an honest capture of what he’s seeing before him. He’s not a formula painter who paints what he thinks will sell.”
Mark has spoken at various art clubs in the area, most recently at the Doylestown Art League on how to bring plein air energy into studio work. He has also given talks at Simons Fine Art Framing & Gallery and at the Bethlehem Palette Club.
He has won three awards at Phillips’ Mill exhibitions and a plein air award from Artists of Yardley. In 2024 he appeared in the Stover Mill Gallery juried art show where he received an Excellence in Landscape Award. In 2027 his work will be featured in a solo show at Stover Mill Gallery in Erwinna, PA.
Though most of his work consists of landscapes, as a dog owner Mark has also painted some touching portraits of them.
The one piece of advice he has for other painters is, “You must have fun. You have to!” he stressed. “Whenever I’m outdoors painting,” he added, “I always take a few minutes, put the brushes down and admire what a beautiful world we live in, and to not take it for granted.”
To see Mark’s work, visit The Official Peace Valley Painters on Facebook. Mark is also on Instagram (@markmccoy61) and can be contacted by email: markmccoy2@verizon.net.
Michele Malinchak is a freelance writer who has a degree in art and enjoys oil painting.