Artcrush, or, Hang On To Your Knickers
Have been insanely busy, and have to go to school (nine hours earlier than required!) to set up a crapload of work for a scholarship show. While waiting for necessary things to print out, I am going to babble a bit about my latest artcrush, James Jean.
It's been a while since I've had an artcrush, and even then, the last one wasn't on a person but rather a stylistic period (although Art Nouveau and I had a passionate affair, we've passed the honeymoon stage and are settling into quiet domesticity. The beauty of artcrushes is that they are delightfully polygamous).
For the uninitiated, an artcrush is very similar to your average, garden-variety crush: constantly thinking about and a swooping feeling in the pit of one's stomach at the sight of your object of obsession affection, unreasonable attempts to incorporate said object into unrelated aspects of your life, and doodling all over everything (which can become a blessing and a curse with an artcrush). The only real difference is that the artcrush is intellect-driven, while general crushes are usually hormone-driven. An artcrush stimulates the mind and creative faculties, and a general crush stimulates...Well. You get the idea.
I have never had an artcrush on an American-style comic illustrator before, so at first I felt rather like I was betraying my vast collection of Asian artcrushes by crossing over to the, er, home side of the tracks. But as you'll soon see from James Jean's work, he's got just enough of the Asian mixed with the American, particularly in his covers from the Fables series, that I feel quite at home (and abroad!) looking at his art. Comic illustrations aside, he's a damn fine painter, too. I haven't got time to post a comprehensive set of pictures, but for starters:
His blog and online store
and
His online portfolio
and
Mostly his comic-related stuff.
I burn, I pine, I perish. I just spent over $150 on artbooks and art supplies as a sacrifice to the gods of illustration.
It's been a while since I've had an artcrush, and even then, the last one wasn't on a person but rather a stylistic period (although Art Nouveau and I had a passionate affair, we've passed the honeymoon stage and are settling into quiet domesticity. The beauty of artcrushes is that they are delightfully polygamous).
For the uninitiated, an artcrush is very similar to your average, garden-variety crush: constantly thinking about and a swooping feeling in the pit of one's stomach at the sight of your object of obsession affection, unreasonable attempts to incorporate said object into unrelated aspects of your life, and doodling all over everything (which can become a blessing and a curse with an artcrush). The only real difference is that the artcrush is intellect-driven, while general crushes are usually hormone-driven. An artcrush stimulates the mind and creative faculties, and a general crush stimulates...Well. You get the idea.
I have never had an artcrush on an American-style comic illustrator before, so at first I felt rather like I was betraying my vast collection of Asian artcrushes by crossing over to the, er, home side of the tracks. But as you'll soon see from James Jean's work, he's got just enough of the Asian mixed with the American, particularly in his covers from the Fables series, that I feel quite at home (and abroad!) looking at his art. Comic illustrations aside, he's a damn fine painter, too. I haven't got time to post a comprehensive set of pictures, but for starters:
His blog and online store
and
His online portfolio
and
Mostly his comic-related stuff.
I burn, I pine, I perish. I just spent over $150 on artbooks and art supplies as a sacrifice to the gods of illustration.