Evans teen creates McDonald's mural

Though Colin Vaughan doesn't consider himself a painter, his work is seen by hundreds each day at an Evans fast food restaurant.

//

The freshman architecture student at Southern Polytechnic State University spent his summer painting a mural for the play area of the McDonald's on Washington Road at Towne Centre Drive.

"It took me all summer, up until 4:30 a.m. the day before I left to Southern Poly," Vaughan said.

Originally, the task was set for Vaughan's Evans High School art class, but he ended up tackling the work as a solo project.

Angelina Townes, the McDonald's franchise owner, said she initially wanted a portrait of Ronald McDonald for the play area. Instead, she went to Evans High School in search of artists to develop a unique idea.

"I try to not only donate to different organizations within the schools, I try to in some way showcase the talents that these children have," Townes said.

After Townes contacted Pamela Segers, the art teacher at Evans High, Segers asked Vaughan if he was interested in doing the mural.

"I guess Ms. Segers always liked me," Vaughan said. "I'm one of her favorite students, so she came to me first and I said, 'Yep.' "

The 36-foot-long mural is made of three panels. Vaughan used oil paint and said the hardest part about the work was developing a concept and washing off the paint.

"I'm not really a painter," Vaughan said. "I have been getting into ceramics a lot lately, but I knew basically what I was doing. It comes naturally, I guess."

The mural features a carnival scene, with people riding a ferris wheel. The scenes change from day to night and through all four seasons of a year across the three panels.

"I think doing this was pretty interesting," Vaughan said. "It was time-consuming, but I would do more jobs like this again."

Vaughan was paid $800.