Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Margaux Carpentier is a French artist and illustrator based in London. During her visit to the Jackson’s Studio, she discusses her practice in depth, exploring how motifs from nature emerge instinctively in her work. Animals, in particular, act as a subconscious way of expressing human emotion. Drawn to discordant colour and bold compositions, Margaux resists conventional ideas of ‘accomplished’ art, instead embracing intuition and trust in the process. Human figures anchor her symbol-rich scenes, animated by unexpected poses, dynamic spatial relationships, and striking colour.
0:00 “Making a painting, people tend to think it’s really relaxing and freeing, and for me it is freeing in a way, but it’s so much struggling through the mud”
0:23 “I often think of my drawings, pictures, as poems”
0:26 Introduction
1:58 “I never stopped exploring”
2:06 “I grew up near Giverny, where Monet painted the lilies”
2:30 “It was fascinating to see actually practising adults, really inspiring”
3:08 “For a very short period of time, actually, a child doesn’t care about representing what’s there, they can’t quite control their hands, and they produce the most beautiful drawings”
4:40 “They are often in movement, flowing, flying, running”
5:59 “I remember all the students telling me, ‘What brought you from Paris to Farnham, Surrey?”
8:26 “I love materials, I love exploring new things”
9:01 “I think I want to explore the idea of being a little disturbing, a little bit clash-y, a little bit disgusting, and that’s what really excites me”
9:42 “I think the colour I can’t live without, it’s a hard one, in life, it would probably be yellow, I’m obsessed with yellow, I love yellow. But in my paintings, probably this kind of orangey red, very specific, bright vermilion red”
11:11 “I plan for colours at the same time that I plan for the composition and the theme of the painting”
11:55 “I started building up my sort of practice and client base”
13:48 “I should draw my cat a lot more, I realised recently, that he’s not included in any paintings, because I think he’s just too fabulous and I’m too shy”
14:05 “I think animals are a real nostalgic thing to me”
15:57 “I often feel like flowers look like they have a face inside of them, a real personality in them, and they become this strange, ambivalent being that we almost pull out of ourselves”
16:37 “We keep making the same mistake, over and over, and not looking backwards, not listening to anything else but your own voice”
17:19 “I have a vague idea of what things mean for me, but then I want people to see the work, and take it wherever they want”
18:04 “I work using a lot of media, it’s part of me not being able to make decisions and wanting to have everything”
18:52 “I love the vividness of acrylic paint and that they dry really quickly, which suits my sometimes impatient nature”
20:19 “The watercolours just pop out”
20:45 “The texture is really flat, it’s almost magic when you apply it on paper”
21:04 “They come in so many colours, and you just have to buy them all”
21:54 “I love working in very flat colour vectors, and there is something really juicy and satisfying”
22:47 “It’s always really exciting to be approached by a client and asked to work on a new brief, and it keeps things very fresh and new”
24:23 “There is something really satisfying in having a very small drawing and translating it on a big surface”
26:13 “I like the sketch to be very quick and maybe quite small, there is a quality to small scribbles on the corner of a page”
28:44 “I make a mark, and see where it takes me”
30:27 “Trust your process, trust yourself”
31:27 “I love working on very heavy paper”
32:02 “I love working with very soft brushes as well as rough, hard ones to create different textures”
32:44 “I don’t like saying goodbye, I don’t like things ending, so it’s the same for the work”
36:55 “I am really interested in Louise Bourgeois’s thought process and psyche as well”
37:59 “It feels almost self-indulgent to create something for yourself… I’m daring to go deeper into myself, and express things in a more direct manner”
39:32 Credits
Shop Art Materials on our website: jacksonsart.com/colour/acrylic?utm_campaign=ain_margaux_carpentier&utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=organicsocial&utm_content=youtube_social_organic_video_to_ecom
Read the article on our blog: jacksonsart.com/blog/2026/01/27/artist-insights-margaux-carpentier/?utm_campaign=ain_margaux_carpentier&utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=organicsocial&utm_content=youtube_social_organic_video_to_blog
Follow Margaux Carpentier on Instagram: instagram.com/margauxcarpe
Music courtesy of YouTube Audio Library. The music was inspired by the songs Margaux and the Jackson's Team listened to while painting during the shoot.
#art #artist #acrylicpainting
Margaux Carpentier is a French artist and illustrator based in London. During her visit to the Jackson’s Studio, she discusses her practice in depth, exploring how motifs from nature emerge instinctively in her work. Animals, in particular, act as a subconscious way of expressing human emotion. Drawn to discordant colour and bold compositions, Margaux resists conventional ideas of ‘accomplished’ art, instead embracing intuition and trust in the process. Human figures anchor her symbol-rich scenes, animated by unexpected poses, dynamic spatial relationships, and striking colour.
0:00 “Making a painting, people tend to think it’s really relaxing and freeing, and for me it is freeing in a way, but it’s so much struggling through the mud”
0:23 “I often think of my drawings, pictures, as poems”
0:26 Introduction
1:58 “I never stopped exploring”
2:06 “I grew up near Giverny, where Monet painted the lilies”
2:30 “It was fascinating to see actually practising adults, really inspiring”
3:08 “For a very short period of time, actually, a child doesn’t care about representing what’s there, they can’t quite control their hands, and they produce the most beautiful drawings”
4:40 “They are often in movement, flowing, flying, running”
5:59 “I remember all the students telling me, ‘What brought you from Paris to Farnham, Surrey?”
8:26 “I love materials, I love exploring new things”
9:01 “I think I want to explore the idea of being a little disturbing, a little bit clash-y, a little bit disgusting, and that’s what really excites me”
9:42 “I think the colour I can’t live without, it’s a hard one, in life, it would probably be yellow, I’m obsessed with yellow, I love yellow. But in my paintings, probably this kind of orangey red, very specific, bright vermilion red”
11:11 “I plan for colours at the same time that I plan for the composition and the theme of the painting”
11:55 “I started building up my sort of practice and client base”
13:48 “I should draw my cat a lot more, I realised recently, that he’s not included in any paintings, because I think he’s just too fabulous and I’m too shy”
14:05 “I think animals are a real nostalgic thing to me”
15:57 “I often feel like flowers look like they have a face inside of them, a real personality in them, and they become this strange, ambivalent being that we almost pull out of ourselves”
16:37 “We keep making the same mistake, over and over, and not looking backwards, not listening to anything else but your own voice”
17:19 “I have a vague idea of what things mean for me, but then I want people to see the work, and take it wherever they want”
18:04 “I work using a lot of media, it’s part of me not being able to make decisions and wanting to have everything”
18:52 “I love the vividness of acrylic paint and that they dry really quickly, which suits my sometimes impatient nature”
20:19 “The watercolours just pop out”
20:45 “The texture is really flat, it’s almost magic when you apply it on paper”
21:04 “They come in so many colours, and you just have to buy them all”
21:54 “I love working in very flat colour vectors, and there is something really juicy and satisfying”
22:47 “It’s always really exciting to be approached by a client and asked to work on a new brief, and it keeps things very fresh and new”
24:23 “There is something really satisfying in having a very small drawing and translating it on a big surface”
26:13 “I like the sketch to be very quick and maybe quite small, there is a quality to small scribbles on the corner of a page”
28:44 “I make a mark, and see where it takes me”
30:27 “Trust your process, trust yourself”
31:27 “I love working on very heavy paper”
32:02 “I love working with very soft brushes as well as rough, hard ones to create different textures”
32:44 “I don’t like saying goodbye, I don’t like things ending, so it’s the same for the work”
36:55 “I am really interested in Louise Bourgeois’s thought process and psyche as well”
37:59 “It feels almost self-indulgent to create something for yourself… I’m daring to go deeper into myself, and express things in a more direct manner”
39:32 Credits
Shop Art Materials on our website: jacksonsart.com/colour/acrylic?utm_campaign=ain_margaux_carpentier&utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=organicsocial&utm_content=youtube_social_organic_video_to_ecom
Read the article on our blog: jacksonsart.com/blog/2026/01/27/artist-insights-margaux-carpentier/?utm_campaign=ain_margaux_carpentier&utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=organicsocial&utm_content=youtube_social_organic_video_to_blog
Follow Margaux Carpentier on Instagram: instagram.com/margauxcarpe
Music courtesy of YouTube Audio Library. The music was inspired by the songs Margaux and the Jackson's Team listened to while painting during the shoot.
#art #artist #acrylicpainting
