Hi all, I’ve started the next adventure of my life as my own boss! Thank you for your support as I take this step out on my own. “The greatest adventure is what lies ahead!” Visual storytelling, studio projects, and my blog are all there. @SilentJamesLive on social media, please stay in touch!
Friday, July 28, 2017
Sunday, July 31, 2016
Cloud Becomes Your Hand illustration, 2016
I was delighted to see my friend Stephe Cooper's band Cloud Becomes Your Hand on a short trip to NYC recently. I love their music & their live show is truly something to behold. I was pleasantly surprised to see everyone actually DANCING! Not moshing, not sitting around, but boogying! It was a sight for sore eyes. Their finale was a monumental display of synchronized dancing, it was smile educing.
Triple Threat Lives! Stephe gave a huge shout out to Triple Threat before their set started. It was dope. I attended with my good, good friend and incredible artist Jade Kuei. A good night out!
Triple Threat Lives! Stephe gave a huge shout out to Triple Threat before their set started. It was dope. I attended with my good, good friend and incredible artist Jade Kuei. A good night out!
Saturday, June 25, 2016
Wednesday, June 1, 2016
Bloodsport, Berserk & Mulholland Drive
Bloodsport is ridiculous, but pretty fun. I love the 80s music & Jean Claude Van Damme's style- with his crazy jacket & high pants. I drew so iconic scenes, his scream was for my friend Matt. I've been playing with drawing across the 2 pages in my new sketchbook.
Berserk is one of my favorite stories, I love the books & the Golden Age films. It's so unlike anything I have ever seen. I'm sickened by the violence towards women, but it's always shown as unforgivable evil. The art in the manga is so detailed. I'm looking forward to the new episodes this summer.
Mulholland Drive, so many great characters to draw. I wanted to keep Betty/Diane by herself. This is my favorite of David Lynch's movies, along with Blue Velvet. He is bold & takes chances. Again, too much violence towards women- the main reason I'm not a big fan of Twin Peaks in general, but the rest of his work is interesting. I love the Castigliane Brothers, they are so strange!
Labels:
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Thursday, May 19, 2016
2008, 2009, 2010 A Favorite Piece per Year
Collyer Brothers, 2008 |
Life of Pi, 2009 |
Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus, 2010 |
I created these in-between freelance jobs and around my full-time day job. It's very important to do personal work, it's a way to build up a portfolio of the kind of work you'd LIKE to be getting. It's a hoot looking at this stuff now, it seems like someone else created them- it's so weird.
Monday, May 16, 2016
2007-2009 Political Illustration
From 2007-2009, I did a lot of illustrations for Manhattan Media. They owned a bunch of free weekly newspapers: NY Press, The Capitol, City Hall, West Side Spirit & Our Town. These were the lowest paying jobs with the quickest turnaround times, mostly political subjects, it was very depressing but I had to pay my bills. Part of me wanted to hide these forever, but the thing I like about this site is that you get to see a progression and another side of my work. So... here we go!
Some illustrators make a career out of drawing people they dislike, but it's not for me. I dislike the corruption, greed and blatant illegal practices of politicians. I must have drawn Bloomberg 20 times, it was torture.
Sptizer is another one I've draw too many times, he was a big deal during this time because he was caught being a patron of escort services. I think this country has its priorities mixed up. What we choose to be outraged by vs bigger issues we don't really care about.
Never have I had to draw a more horrific site! The art director told me where to place each politician on the tower based on how they were doing in the race at the time. I guess Obama laughed last.
Another cover I drew, I really liked this one because it did not feature a politician!
This was funny because the art director told me to draw him peering into the piggy bank. Esther exclaimed, "But he's BLIND!" She suggested I have him shake it next to his ear, I'm so glad I did that! How insensitive that would have seemed.
This one is one of my favorites for a very odd reason. I used frisket film to mask out the words on the chalk board, to really get the texture/feel of chalk. When I pulled it up, it did exactly what I wanted.
Don't get me wrong, I vote every chance I get. I'll never give up trying to make this country better, even against such corruption which is consistently rewarded.
Sunday, May 15, 2016
2000 My Handmade High School Yearbook
Cover to my handmade yearbook 2000 |
Teachers and students would write their messages/comments directly in the book (comments not featured here, those are mine!). Each page would have a yearbook-esque pic and a full drawing at the bottom, they would sign the opposite page. Here's a few memories from my yearbook...
My parting words for High School were borrowed from Roger Klotz, they are words of wisdom.
I'm thankful for my teacher Mrs Trettner. Her classes prepared me to be a professional in everything that I do. In the desert of Three Village, she had true passion & guts.
Sometimes I kick myself for not also buying an official yearbook, because it would've made the process of drawing autobiography "Secrets of Silent James" easier, but I'm proud to say my memory proved to be quite sharp! So... HA!
Sunday, May 8, 2016
05-05-16 Melt Banana and Napalm Death live
Melt-Banana 2016 |
Yasuko was kind enough to compliment my homemade "bats" pants and take a photo with us. She's a real hero of mine and it feels really good to buy vinyl and non sweatshop made shirts directly from the person creating them. Ah!
Jello Biafra |
Before the show, Napalm Death bassist Shane Embury was carrying food back to the tour bus mumbling "alright, I'mabout ta drop this". He could have been talking about the food, but I think he meant his extreme bass lines...
Napalm Death |
Sunday, May 1, 2016
2007-2008 Creative Intuition
Where Calgary Nov/Dec 2007 |
Where Calgary Nov/Dec 2007 |
Where Calgary Jan/Feb 2009 |
Where Calgary Jan/Feb 2009 |
Tapping the Essence of Box Wine the Rambler Jan/Feb 2008 |
Summer of Skin the Rambler May/June 2008 |
Before both of these, my first illustration job for the Rambler was for a short story called "Of Mice and Man", alas I lost the painting and the tear sheet. I wish I could find a copy of it. More than that, I wish I could remember the names of the art directors I worked with on these projects. It was about 10 years ago, with all the moves I've done I've lost some lists of clients, illustrations, tear sheets etc. That's another reason I'm archiving all of my work here. Enjoy!
Sunday, April 24, 2016
2009-2011 Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Screamin' Jay Hawkins Ol' Man River by Silent James 2009 |
Screamin' Jay Hawkins by Silent James 2011 |
Screamin' Jay Hawkins by Silent James 2011 |
Screamin' Jay Hawkins by Silent James 2012 |
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.
Labels:
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2012,
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Screamin Jay Hawkins,
silent james,
silent james art,
silentjames,
technique,
watercolor
Saturday, April 23, 2016
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 VerdĂș 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.
Labels:
2007,
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film,
freelance,
guillermo del toro,
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likeness,
pan's labyrinth,
silent james,
silent james art,
silentjames,
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watercolor
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