2009-2011 Screamin' Jay Hawkins

Screamin' Jay Hawkins Ol' Man River by Silent James 2009

Screamin' Jay Hawkins is one of my favorite musicians. I first saw him in the movie American Hot Wax in Vincent Di Fate's illustration class. Screamin' was outrageous! I dove into his music and loved pretty much all of it. I was mesmerized by any live clips I could find, the above illustration was based on his performance of Ol' Man River (with a homage to Ashes at the end!). At the time, this piece was a breakthrough for me. It was the first piece I had done in years that was actually fun to create.

Screamin' Jay Hawkins by Silent James 2011

I created this next one during my next phase of illustration, which I still use to this day. His singing ability was truly special. Jim Jarmusch said it best, "He's a national treasure." I loved him in JJ's film Mystery Train, I wish he had acted more- he was great!

Screamin' Jay Hawkins by Silent James 2011

I eventually saw the documentary "I Put a Spell on Me", which was fascinating. I especially loved the clips from the original "I Put a Spell on You" music video. Screamin' said that everyone thought he was a joke dressed like that, but he believed he was dressed like a warrior; an African warrior.

Screamin' Jay Hawkins by Silent James 2012

The last one I painted was in 2012, I really like the colors I used. I also got to paint a spell like in my books Three and Dee. I loved his entrances in the casket, he said the scream he would bust out from the coffin would cause half the audience to faint!

My favorite songs of his besides ones mentioned above are: Voodoo, Poor Folks, I Hear Voices, Shattered, Monkberry Moon Delight, Whistlin' Past the Graveyard, Portrait of a Man, Frenzy... sheesh, there's too many to list.

2007 Pan's Labyrinth

Pan's Labyrinth "Hermano" by Silent James 2007

I saw Pan's Labyrinth for free before it was released, we won some kind of giveaway. I didn't know anything about it, I found it very exciting and scary. Shortly after its release, the director held an art contest on the movie site, the prize was the 10 winner's work would appear on the dvd menu of the film. I quickly created 10 pieces and submitted them. The winners were chosen by popular vote from people that came to the site. I don't like that system, the director should have chosen, I've never been popular, haha.

I wanted this above piece to be half nice and half evil, summing up the whole film. I liked Ivana Baquero as Ofelia, she's a great actor!

Pan's Labyrinth "Bug" by Silent James 2007

This next one is usually a favorite with people. It's the most normal, nice looking piece in the bunch.

Pan's Labyrinth "Mama" by Silent James 2007

This one is gruesome, I like the watercolor effect on the belly. My friend Morgan saw the sketch, then saw the finish and exclaimed, "I didn't expect all that blood!"

Pan's Labyrinth "Trio" by Silent James 2007

I like the composition because all the shoulders flow into the arch. Esther loved Maribel Verdú in Y Tu Mama Tambien.

Pan's Labyrinth "Root" by Silent James 2007

I tried to draw most of these from memory, showing different perspectives etc. Morgan remarked about this one that it reminded her of the Rankin/Bass production of the Hobbit, which is one of my favorite movies of all time.

Pan's Labyrinth "Frog" by Silent James 2007

I like the hazy background in this one, I think I missed the mark with the characters in the foreground.

Pan's Labyrinth "Pale" by Silent James 2007

The Pale Man scene was my favorite in the movie, I loved the set up, the paintings on the wall, the creature, it all worked. I do not like his long fingers here or his red belly, but I like the doorway.

Pan's Labyrinth "Fathers" by Silent James 2007

I love the technique on the faun and the simple coloring of her face. I like this one.

Pan's Labyrinth "Final Task" by Silent James 2007

Pan's Labyrinth "End" by Silent James 2007

I have to be honest, I can't watch this movie anymore. I tried to watch it again years later and it was too violent, I don't think it's old age but who knows. I like Guillermo del Toro's sketchbooks. I can never keep my own because if I do one bad drawing, I toss the book aside because I can't bare to look at it every time I open it. I know it's insane, I'm working on that.

I look back on these images with delight. I do not work in this method anymore (I'm much happier not to) but I think these look pretty good.

2006 Xbox Magazine

Dead Rising Save Point Illustration by Silent James 2006

I learned the most valuable lesson as an illustrator because of this early job for Xbox Magazine. The art director asked me how much I would charge for a full page illustration, I told her, then she told me "it's your lucky day" because their budget was pretty much double what I quoted. From then on, I would ask on calls with art directors how much their budget was. 75% of the time, it was higher than what I thought I could make doing the work. Do not sell yourself short & show no fear!

The idea was to highlight things in games that are frustrating for players. The above image was of the game Dead Rising and how annoying it was to find save points (which were in bathrooms), so the hero is shown doing a pee pee dance. I've never been crazy about zombies, but this was fun.

This image was about how some games had really bright flashes.

Originally, I was asked to create the Dead Rising one as a full page, the other as a quarter, but for some reason they ran them vice versa. I was not happy about that, since they blew up the bright image (they should have asked me for a bigger file, which I had), they also cropped the Dead Rising one. They did send me multiple copies, which was nice, and this was the first major publication I was printed in. I could go to any drug store and they'd have the issue. I remember they took a REALLY long time to pay me, we're talking months, telling me something about they didn't get the invoice. I finally got paid and they sent me this humongous Xbox shirt with it as a "thanks for waiting gift". Unfortunately, this same exact scenario happened to a friend of mine and they were given the same excuse (but no shirt!).

2006 Illustration for 11211 Magazine, Let's Grow Art Show

Another early job I got was to illustrate Roni from Laila Lounge in Williamsburg for 11211 magazine. There was no direction or images sent to me, so I went down and interviewed him/sketched him in person. This was not typical in 2006 and is practically unheard of today, but it was a really great experience. Roni was a very funny and interesting person, he told me all about the place and himself and I was able to add some details into the image. I really like the way the spray came out in the background; the gradient and textures. They only ended up using the image as a quarter page, which meant my already tiny compensation would be even less. I never got to see the image printed, and I also had to fight for months with the owner of the magazine to get paid. But, Roni loved the image and wanted me to show my work in his place.

Flyer designed by Esther Westwood, art by artists in show

I organized Let's Grow! Art Show on Aug 17, 2006 with some of my friends including: Fumiko Yoshioka, Jason Raish, Rob Harrigan, Stephanie Buscema, Esther Westwood and Magie Serpica. We had about 5 or 6 pieces up each and there was a pretty good turnout. My childhood friend Lucas came, and my friends Matt and Morgan, Molly Crabapple etc. It was a really nice night and all came about from one tiny job.

2010 Lecture at FIT on How I Got My First Illustration Job

On December 8, 2010 I joined artists Hope Gangloff and Kim Rosen to speak at the Fashion Institute of Technology about "How I Got My First Job". Heidi Younger contacted me and it was all very exciting. My lovely friends Esther, Matt, Woo, Luis, Monica, and Lavon showed up and Woo was nice enough to record it for me. Check out the above video clip, and here is the original flyer...

I talked about my first job which was an illustration of golfer Michelle Wie for NY Press in the summer of 2006. Here is the image:

Michelle Wie Illustration by Silent James

And here is the clipping from the newspaper:

I remember I was so excited, I told all of my friends to pick up a copy.

My favorite part of the lecture was getting to meet Hope Gangloff and Kim Rosen, they were such delightful people and we felt like a team. After performing in immersive theatre for 3 years and being a graphic recorder, I have definitely gotten better at public speaking since this video was shot, but I think I did a pretty good job. Years later I ran into SASHALYNILLO at a gallery show and she recognized me from the lecture and told me it was pretty entertaining. I would like to do more of these talks in the future!

There's more to the video where I discuss other projects, I'll share those in future posts.

1998 Comic: Triple Threat

Cover to the Triple Threat graphic novel, 1998

Triple Threat was comic about a gang... well, it was more like an army, of wholesome individuals I knew in the late 90's. I remember drawing the whole 1st issue on the coffee table in Luke's living room. He just kept feeding me and cheering me on. I photocopied them using the secret code for the teacher's photocopier, and passed them out in school. It all started with 3 friends: Adam, Luke, and I- but it grew into a huge community that I was very grateful for. It was a means to bring cheer to my friends, and make new friends. Still to this day, people bring Triple Threat up to me, which is great. I'm including the entire 1st issue here. Triple Threat!

My advice to artists in school is to follow my example: create a comic or zine and fill it with friends and people you admire, hand it out, and create your own communities. School was frustrating, but it would have been unbearable without the friends I made from this humble comic. And thanks to Luke for forcing the whole thing to happen in the first place. To read more about the origins of Triple Threat, stay tuned for my autobiography Secrets of Silent James. Lastly, I want to include a page from a later issue that I just love. The drawing style I believe was my best during that time, and it has a good collection of the cast.

1991 How I Love Comic Books

In elementary school, we used to create these books made of construction paper (such a good name), that were laminated and bound using that plastic comb binding. I loved making them, though I hadn't developed a sense of layout/design yet. This book was called "How I Love Comic Books". The "typography" on the cover is interesting because I chose to draw in the holes on the B.

My poor mum used to have to stand there for endless amounts of time while I went through every book in the store, and if I came out empty handed... that's when she'd flip her lid. Rightly so, sorry! I don't actually recall her ever saying that I am a comic book, I think that was me using my creative license. Ah, youth!

I find the text in this book hilarious. I remember getting yelled at for using ballpoint pen to draw on that green paper, I understand now tho. It doesn't read well.

I'm glad I appreciated weirdness. The weirdest part about this page was that I didn't even like the Fantastic Four! I never even bought an issue my entire life. I think I was writing this book as more of an introduction to comics. I wish I was more bold with my imagery here, maybe I should recreate this book? haha

I get a kick out of this page, especially in the google adwords time we live in today. I drew most of the book in crayon. My handwriting is pretty neat. I remember coloring this all in at my classmate Eric's house, he was the fastest runner in our grade. He lived in a very ritzy part of town. I remember 2 girls from our class skated by us and he yelled, "Posers!" at them. I'm not sure why he did that, at the time I didn't know what the word meant and I just thought he was complimenting them on how they were able to pose why skating. I remember weird things.

I wonder if any parents that read this were inspired to begin reading comics? There was a parent's night where everyone came and read all of our laminated books, there was a sheet on the back of each book for them to write comments. I lost the sheet, unfortunately, but I remember people wrote about how much they loved the artwork. My Mum wrote something nice in there too.

This is probably my favorite part of the book, I can't believe I wrote this! haha

I'm happy to say I still love comics, and I'm re-reading Dragon Ball (still good after all these years!). I love Frank Miller's early work, everything by Alan Moore especially Miracle Man, Jaime Hernandez' Locas, Alejandro Jodorowsky's many masterpieces, The Maxx, and a new book I love is the Invader Zim comic. If you are in NY I highly recommend my friend Menachem Luchin's shop Escape Pod Comics. His ability to recommend books is more spot on than any silly algorithm, and he has a true passion for comics. Here in SF, I go to Comix Experience. Enjoy!

2003-2014 Hunter S Thompson, Dan Valle, Ralph Steadman, Death Positive

Dan Valle and Silent James, Halloween 2003

In 1998, I saw Terry Gilliam's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas film. It had a big effect on me, I used to run up and down the halls in high school quoting Raoul Duke. I read the book, I especially loved the artwork by the great Ralph Steadman. In 2002, I met a punk kid at FIT named Dan Valle. He became one of my best friends. It turned out he loved Fear and Loathing as well, and we both dressed up for Halloween in 2003.

Silent James attending Ralph Steadman's show at AIB, Feb 2006

Hunter S. Thompson died in 2005. I remember my sisters and I were visiting our Mum, and we were so sad when we heard the news. We were crying in the snow. In 2006, I piled into a car with my sister, her husband, and Esther and headed up to Art Institute of Boston for Drawing Breath: A Retrospective Whisper, which was a huge Ralph Steadman show.

The postcard flyer for the show

Silent James w/ Cardinal Zin

The show was a comprehensive collection of his school work, ink illustrations for books in the 60's (my favorite of his work), the Big I Am images which were stunning, as well as new work including beverage packaging.

Soon after, Ralph Steadman's book The Joke's Over came out, about his relationship with his friend Hunter S Thompson. He came to the Barnes and Noble bookstore on 6th ave and 22nd st for... not quite a signing, since we all got pre signed book plates... but he did have give a talk and even dressed up as Hunter (cigarette holder and all!). I remember hearing someone banging on the window of the bookstore at one point, but I didn't pay it much attention because I was so mesmerized by seeing Mr. Steadman.

Illustration of Ralph Steadman by Silent James, 2006

I painted this huge watercolor of Ralph Steadman, in the style of one of his favorite artists Goya, and gave it to him. His friend laughed, "He's got more hair than that!" I got to ask Ralph a question during the Q+A, "Hunter always told you not to write, that it would bring shame upon you and your family, and now you've written a book. I'm curious, did Hunter ever draw?"
The room kind of went dead, as is usually the case when I'm given a microphone, and Ralph just said that "Hunter couldn't draw."
He was rushed out by his wife, as people were trying desperately to get him to sign their stuff, and I yelled a big "Thank You!", he stopped in his tracks, turned right to me and yelled, "You're welcome!" It was amazing.

Illustration of my friend Dan Valle, 2014

Dec 2008, I met Dan at Kenka near Saint Marks and we had a great night catching up. He told me all about his new band Hollow Jones. Obama just became president. He asked me if I'd like to create some illustrations for him. He was happy and excited. We talked Ralph Steadman and I mentioned I saw him at B+N over a year ago and he told me it was him banging on the window. He said he saw something was going on but had to run.

A few days after Valentine's Day 2009, I received an email out of the blue from my friend Sasha that Dan Valle died in a bike accident on the Williamsburg Bridge.

Ghost Bike for Dan Valle at South 5th between Driggs and Roebling

A kind artist made a Ghost Bike for Dan. I went to the funeral in Howell, NJ. At first I was crippled by this devastation, but I began painting his picture every year, which I found very therapeutic. I learned to accept death and become death positive years later thanks to mortician Caitlin Doughty and the Order of the Good Death. Dan's birthday is on April 6th, this year I spent it listening to Tragedy (one of Dan's favorite bands) and flying home from the east coast.