James Jean

An infinite well of creative expression

James Jeans work can only be described at the pinnacle of craftmanship married with an unquenchable thirst for creative freedom and experimentation. Looking through his work you want to imagine that James Jean is actually a group of different artists that all specialize in different crafts, but its actually just one humble American born Taiwanese father with a deep love for creating art. Here I am sharing some of my favorites by James Jean but also make sure to check out his website for more mind blowing artwork.

Here we have some detail shots of these pieces, it is very clear that there is intention behind every single line. The emphasis on purposeful mark making creates beautiful movement within the work.

James Jean might be one of the mos prolific artists alive today, he has built a team of assistants around him to unlock the full potential of his creative mind. Watching him work is nothing short of amazing; Most artists that have high technical ability tend to play things safe and not experiment enough, but James does not hold back on intuitive mark making in the middle parts of a piece. Underneath you can see him work on a mural, you can see how often he steps back to see the work as a whole to make sure he creates a cohesive experience for the viewer and not stray too far from his original idea.

The piece above is absolutely one of my favorite pieces of art that I have ever laid my eyes on. James is a master at drawing organic forms and creating movement on a flat surface. The perfect balance of textures, strong colors, interesting details and beautifully crafted patterns is nothing short of genius. Here is the process video of how he created this master piece, pay attention to how he comes up with multiple thumbnail ideas until he finds what resonates on an emotional level, before jumping into creating a finished piece. The ability to create emotionally resonant pieces is what separates the masters from the pros.

James is very keen on creating a diverse body of work. He doesnt shy away from trying new mediums or methods to see where it takes him. This is especially impressive considering the amount of success he has had with previous styles, yet he places higher value on being creative than doing what is safe.

These two pieces above were drawn using cheap ballpoint pens. Yes, you read that right, he crafted these beautiful pieces using one of the simplest and cheapest tools possible. There are many art teachers who will say that Michelangelo could make masterpiece using a broom, this is to explain that artwork is about the artist and not about what tools he uses; Future art teachers will be using James Jean ballpoint ink drawings to express this same idea.