5 min readAt the Masters, where phones are famously prohibited, the idea of a souvenir is evolving. While in past years, the only photo people were able to share is one they had to queue in line to snap at Founders Circle, this year, artist Meagan Morrison is offering a creative alternative: She is providing Masters patrons a hand-drawn record of their moment at the tournament.
At the Wheels Up Clubhouse—a hospitality space located across the street of Augusta National Golf Club, exclusively for members of the private aviation company and their guests—she’s drawing the tournament’s stylish attendees in real time, rendering their carefully considered outfits into singular works of art. The result? A keepsake that feels at once deeply personal and uber-exclusive—an experience you quite literally had to be there to have. With the portrait, too, comes illustrated coasters, because every Masters moment needs merch. On the eve of the tournament, T&C caught up with Morrison about her path from fashion illustration to the fairways of Augusta, why live sketching has become a new marker of luxury, and what Masters style reveals about the future of sports.
How did you get into fashion illustration?
Morrison speaks with a guest inside the Wheels Up Clubhouse.
I always was interested in fine art all through my childhood. I had no idea that I could actually make it a profession until my early 20s, when I was working in the fashion industry in Toronto. I was expressing my interests to my coworkers. I was like, “I don’t really want to design, but I want to draw these amazing outfits that I’m seeing on the streets.” And that was the time when early fashion blogs were just kicking off and street style photography was in its inception. A coworker mentioned to me that there was this program at FIT in New York that specifically focused on fashion illustration. And it was this light bulb eureka moment, like, “Oh my goodness, there’s actually a field that would combine my greatest loves of art and fashion!” I just had this itch to not only paint the fashion that I was observing and loved, but also the destinations that people were traveling to—that intersection of fashion and travel, which was really like the impetus for starting my brand and blog, Travel Write Draw.
How have you found yourself at sporting events?
It’s a testimony to a lot of the shifts that we’re observing right now, the fact that I have been pulled into so many sporting events. Honestly, starting as far back as like 2015 when I was tapped by Bleacher Report to illustrate NBA jerseys as if they were fashion designer jerseys. So they had me do Chicago Bulls as Dolce and Gabbana, or the New York Knicks as Public School. There’s always been this overlap between fashion and sports, but it has become increasingly stronger over the years. If I were to hypothesize, I think it’s because we’re seeing a real shift in what we define as luxury. Anyone can rent the designer handbag; the things that were once the status signifiers in the past in fashion and in luxury are not the same signifiers today. They don’t have the same weight, they don’t have the same merit. Experiences are becoming the new luxury because they’re harder and harder to access.
And where I fit into that world is that I add this extra layer of “had to be there”: Limited, custom, ephemeral, fleeting moment in time where you could only have received that custom work of art if you were the lucky few to be there at that time, and the hours that I was there to paint. And no two will ever be alike, even if you do get the opportunity to receive one. Because it’s not a carbon copy. It’s all done by hand.
Two summers ago or so, I was at Wimbledon on behalf of Chase Travel and Stan Smith, and they had me customizing the sneakers there, the Adidas sneakers with the Wimbledon strawberry. I had posted that to Instagram, and a few months later, a friend that followed me saw one of the women who had attended that Wimbledon event with the strawberry painted on her shoes—and she knew exactly where those were from. It’s one of those things that speaks to “experienced by few, seen by many.”
Which brings us to the Masters, which feels like the ultimate exclusive sport event. For an event that is so clear about no phones, why do you think people care so much about what they wear?
Morrison working on a drawing.
It really is the ultimate pinnacle of prestige. Because there are so many barriers to entry, it amplifies that feeling of status and exclusivity. Leading up to the days getting ready to come here, seeing the amount of coverage—which is not necessarily taking place on the grounds because you can’t take the photos, but the merch hauls, the people planning their outfits for the days… You want to show your best in a place where you’re being seen by the very best.
What has it been like drawing people’s Masters outfits?
There is no other way to commemorate these looks! We were very intentional about having these pre-done backdrops in these classic positions on the course: Amen Corner, Magnolia Lane, Hogan’s Bridge, and Hole 13, so that we could really bring those worlds together in the way that you’re not able to on the grounds. It is the ultimate customize, commemorative takeaway from this experience.
We definitely want the experience to be a luxury one, where I’m not rushed. I can take my time with these pieces and I really love to get into the details of the outfits, of the accessories, of the prints and patterns that the guests are wearing. We were really intentional about carving out that time to make that this is a first come, first serve limited experience.
What is it about these illustrations that catch your eye on social?
[Social media] is such a huge part of my own business and how I’ve been discovered and why I continue to be brought into these spaces. My brain is always thinking both in social and in real time, trying to be present and do the very best to my ability as an artist, but then also I have to be capturing this social content to make sure that it’s going to be successful when I post it and that people are going to pay attention to it. So it is always all hands on deck, both sides of my brain working at the same time.
An outfit illustration on the backgdrop of Amen Corner.
What is the hardest part of doing the live illustration?
Capturing someone in their likeness and keeping it [quick]! You don’t have hours on hours to do these sketches. My whole thing is to capture the essence of somebody in as few lines as possible. I don’t want the sketches to feel weighty, or over-rendered. I want them to have like a lightness and an energy behind them to sort of like reemphasize that it’s a moment in time and it’s a fleeting moment in time.
What are you most looking forward to about the weekend?
Honestly, to see all the amazing outfits that come through the clubhouse, truly. From what I observed walking the grounds yesterday, they really do. There’s no shortage of color, no shortage of pattern and print, and that’s the stuff that makes my artist heart sing. I love print and pattern and color!
Emily Burack (she/her) is the Deputy Digital Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, celebrities, the royals, and a wide range of other topics. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma, a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Instagram, Twitter, and other social media platforms.