ABOUT STUDIO AMAC
ANDREA MCDONALD
I'm Andrea McDonald. I fly organ-transplant missions as a jet captain and run Studio Amac alongside my aviation career. My drawings are made entirely from handwritten words and numbers, repeated thousands of times to build each image. The subjects range from aircraft and athletes to places that are meaningful to me.
HOW IT BEGAN
I grew up in New Orleans, and aviation was part of my life long before I knew how to fly. Airshows, visits connected to the Louisiana Air National Guard, and a trip to NASA Space Camp when I was about eleven all left their mark. Eventually, looking up at airplanes turned into learning to fly them.
I've been making art since I was young, and middle school art classes were where I really started developing my style. I kept drawing through high school and college. What began partly as a way to earn a little extra gas money became something I couldn't imagine giving up—even as flying took up more of my time.
WHEN THE PATHS MET
The connection happened naturally during flight training. I was training to become a flight instructor in Dallas when an opportunity came to create five drawings for Stephen Curry's 2974 Collection. Around that same chapter, a fellow flight instructor noticed my aircraft artwork and introduced me to the United Mainliner Store. For the first time, the two worlds I'd spent years pursuing separately were coming together.
Explore the artworkTHE METHOD BEHIND THE WORK
I start by choosing a word, name, number, or phrase connected to the subject. Then I write it by hand at different sizes and densities to form the outlines, shadows, and small details. From a distance, it looks like a conventional drawing. Up close, you can see exactly what it's made from.
SELECTED WORK & RECOGNITION
From a historic NBA collection to museum and airline retail, each opportunity has grown from the same hand-built process.
Five original drawings created for Stephen Curry's 2974 Collection.
Artwork and products carried by United Airlines, Smithsonian museum stores, and Café du Monde.
Artwork shared by Billie Jean King, followed by the EQUALITY portrait she later hand-signed.
Featured by AOPA Pilot Magazine and AERO Magazine Brazil.
IN FLIGHT & IN THE STUDIO
These days, I fly organ-transplant missions as a jet captain and keep drawing between trips. Some pieces celebrate aircraft and the people who flew them; others are about sports, places, or moments that mean something to someone. My aviation career is still taking shape, too, with the goal of one day flying for a major airline.
Studio Amac is very much a part of our lives. My wife, Sofi, has supported the studio from the beginning and has stepped in during some of its most demanding projects. I'm proud of the work, but also of the people and stories that have become part of it.
WHAT STUDIO AMAC CREATES
Hand-drawn artwork built around a person, place, milestone, or story.
View selected work 02Original artwork developed into retail collections, event merchandise, and licensed products.
Start a project 03Accessible ways to collect the studio's growing archive of aviation, sport, place, and culture.
Shop the artworkEXPLORE Studio Amac
