Artist finds his niche in murals

SMITHFIELD — As an artist, Max Dowdle had mostly done portraits. But he found his passion in creating murals that blend bold visuals with the heart of a community.

“I come from a fine art background of oil painting and gallery work,” said Dowdle, who did that for about 15.

After earning his bachelor’s degree from the College of Charleston, he studied oil portraiture in Florence, Italy, for two years. “So I did portraiture for a long time,” said Dowdle, now 44.

Around 2019, he began transitioning to mural work. “I got the opportunity to do a very large mural, about 120 feet, for Durham at city hall there,” Dowdle said. “It was a real, like, just a huge learning experience.”

Just as important, he enjoyed it. “After that happened, I started seeking one of those jobs,” Dowdle sad. “And then when the pandemic hit, it was actually like a great transition point for me because I was outside all the time. I didn’t have to be around people, and I could work all through the pandemic. It wasn’t an issue.”

Since then, Dowdle has completed dozens of murals.

“Jobs come to me in a variety of different ways,” he said. “Sometimes I seek them out. Sometimes people contact me. The great thing about murals is they act as their own sort of billboards for themselves. With my website on there and my name, people can find me pretty easily.”

Once he secures a project, Dowdle collaborates closely with the client. “I have a meeting with them, to sort of pick their brains to see where they’re at with what they’re thinking,” he said. “And from there, I usually do about three or four designs that sort of test the waters in different directions. I find that it’s really helpful to have a visual sort of benchmark to gauge what they’re looking for.”

Dowdle revises his designs based on client comments. “They give feedback, and we go through a few design rounds, then I sort of finesse the design in the digital space,” he said.

Like many artists, Dowdle has an aesthetic that guides his work. “I like to work with silhouettes, I like to work with bold colors, and I like to work with hard edges so that I don’t have to spend a huge amount of time blending,” he explained.

With a design finalized, Dowdle sets a date to begin painting. “Installation only takes a week or two depending on the weather,” he said. “I like doing really long days because that shortens the amount of days working on the project.”

Dowdle prefers to work by hand, avoiding spray paint because it “degrades very quickly.” He uses brushes or rollers and applies an anti-UV coating to extend the mural’s lifespan. “I use acrylic paint, which is water-based,” he said. “It dries fairly quickly, which means that after about 10 minutes on a particularly humid day, it would be dry to the touch. But it fully cures within 24 hours.”

Since 2019, Dowdle has finished close to 100 murals, and he continues to expand his portfolio. One of his current projects, titled “Legacy,” aims to create 100 murals in the 100 counties in North Carolina.

“Smithfield is going to be number three in that list,” Dowdle said, noting that Laurinburg was the first and Clinton the second. “That’s going to be keeping me really busy for the next five years or so.”

Though it took time for murals to become his passion, Dowdle cherishes the role. “What I’ve found, and what is really special to me in this field, is that I get to be at a great sort of nexus point where art and community intersect,” he said. “I get to fulfill this role of being the creative individual that is shepherding the ideas that the community has about itself into something that is actually physical and visible.”

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