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November 2, 2009
“Like Wolverine, James Jean is the best at what he does. Unlike Wolverine, James Jean doesn’t kill people with razors that pop out of his hand. You might not know James Jean by name but you’ve seen his work. His art’s all over the place. It’s in galleries, on Prada bags, album covers, in magazines and on the covers of DC comics. Tom Herpich and Kenichi Hoshine are simlarly talented and definitely blow minds with their intense talent and vision but James Jean is the king. James’ drawings have sophistication, power and delicacy beyond what most drawers can muster.”
– Nick Gazin, VICELAND
James Jean is coming to Manila and we’re all excited. We were so excited that we called up Fully Booked and asked them to do this raffle with us. So we’re now running this contest, and Fully Booked is giving away these great prizes. Honestly, we want them for ourselves. If you want a shot at this, all you need to do is leave a comment below answering the question “Which is your favorite James Jean masterpiece and why?” You can leave as many answers as you want, but note that the top 10 entries will be decided upon by us.
The full mechanics of the contest can be found below:
The following prizes are up for grabs, courtesy of Fully Booked:
One (1) copy of Process Recess volume 3
One (1) copy of Fables Volume 1 Deluxe Edition
One (1) copy of XOXO Postcard BookContest runs from November 4 – November 18. Deadline for entries is November 18, 11:59 PM. Editors of UNO will submit a shortlist of contestants to Fully Booked. Fully Booked will then determine the 3 lucky winners.
Winners will be announced on November 20.
Prizes can be claimed at Fully Booked Bonifacio High Street. Prizes not claimed after 30 days will be forfeited in favor of Fully Booked.
On all of his works, I really liked his cover work on Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall it makes me more interested on him. I mean I’m not really a fan of this kind of things but seeing his work really converted me to know more about the artist. Isn’t that amazing? He puts some depth in me
The first time I saw James Jean’s artwork was when a friend introduced me to the Fables series. The covers were amazing. The artwork is fluid, always graceful, and is always expressive. Every time I look at his artwork, it is as if I’m witnessing a dream sequence.
James is, of course, known for his huge contribution to the Fables artwork. He has also made great covers for Jack of Fables, The Umbrella Academy, and Green Arrow (to name a few). All of which are beautifully rendered. However, one of my favorite pieces of James is his less-known work for Grateful Palate, wine labels with the Southern Gothic theme. This series of art is not as grandiose or as famous as his comic artworks but is nonetheless an art on its own right.
James did three sets of wine labels but I especially love what he did with the “Southern Belle Shiraz”. The art features a fine China-like illustration of three southern belles of the pre-war America era (think lacy skirts and parasols). The artwork is exquisite of course but what attracted me most about it was the symbolism behind the artwork represented by the “promiscuous belle”, the “mourning belle”, and the “homemaker”. I like how James creatively portrayed the duplicity against the belles’ chaste demeanor.
I guess this is what makes James Jean’s artwork standout. He is able to creatively illustrate something dark and brooding and turn it gracefully in a flowing work of art (even for a seemingly simple wine label).
Link: http://www.processrecess.com/index.php?uid=DCD4DC
I think a lot of james Jean’s covers for some superhero titles are some of his finest if only for the fact that not a lot of the usual superhero fare doesn’t get the kind of quality they do for their covers as james Jean did for the previous Batgirl series. My favorite would have to be #45 which shows the elegance and power all rolled in one. Another cover would have to be #50 (which shows Batgirl beatin Batman up) just looking at it you can sense the kinetic energy it gives off. #41 gives of a cute and romantic vibe and #49 speaks volumes just showing batgirl(or is it just her suit) encased in the costume display. You don’t see these kinds of covers much on any and most comics
I love comics, and I work in the advertising industry. Imagine my surprise to find out that James Jean was commissioned to come up with two pieces for AIDS awareness by my parent company TBWA\’s Paris branch.
I didn’t recognize his style at first; but I was immediately wowed by the amount of detail, the fluidity of the lines, the subtle use of color and the gorgeous composition of both pieces. It won a Cannes Bronze Lion, which I was not surprised to hear, because it was a beautiful piece of work. The message (while not his) was direct and powerful, the idea was brilliant; but what really made it stand out was the execution. (Check out the border on the copy! Splooge!)
While I wasn’t surprised to find out that it won, I was blown away when I finally realized that my favorite comic cover artist of all time had illustrated it. It gave me a little sense of familiarity in my field– that comics (in the form of James Jean) had found its way into an industry where art, more often than not, takes a backseat to the message of consumerism.
Working in the Advertising industry can be taxing on a Creative. Personal works of art are commissioned, deliberated on, criticized, built upon, torn down and in some cases, bastardized through numerous revisions. Going through his blog and realizing that he, too, can relate, made me feel a little giddy. We have something in common! No matter how silly that last sentence sounded, it never fails to put a smile on my face.
The clock is ticking, and time is running out….I can’t seem to find the right words to tell my story of how I got to learn about James Jean. You see, I’m not an artist myself. My boyfriend called me up and he was so excited that JAmes Jean is coming to Manila. I looked him up on the net and found out the kind of artist he is. (Thank God for the internet for i was able to see some of his artworks). The PROCESS RECESS vol.3 struck me in awe. The sketchbook pages gave me an intimate look at the artist’s work. It tells us a lot about who he is. Ideas just kept flowing in this book. The way he used the colors is so unique as if each detail is a masterpiece, each line is a wonder, and each page is just magic. I’m not an artist but I know how to appreciate art when I see one. James Jean is truly a remarkable artist of modern times. I hope to get to know more about him and I am looking forward for his many artworks to come. His works definitely unleashed the artist in me.
Of all his works I adore, James Jeans’ Succubus has always left me feeling haunted.
I think this piece reflects how Mr. Jean as an artist was able to successfully depict the reality involved in such fearsome and alluring creatures such as succubi- unrelenting (even preying on monks), while at the same time retaining his whimsical style with the use of fluid contours. This piece, compared to his other works, also tells a story quite effectively- something which most artists of this age fail to do, in my opinion- the eyes are led from the main subjects to that strange black figure beneath the succubus (which the viewer’s not quite sure of), to the reflection of a boy who seems to be witnessing the succubus suck the life from the hapless monk. It plays on many ideas such as innocence (in terms of the reflected boy), stereotypes (regarding monks being “holy” and resistant to the temptation of succubi), and the myth behind the succubus (notice how the viewer is denied knowledge of her identity by the way her hair hides her face).
It seems that I have been a fan of James Jean long before I knew who he was. The first time I came across one of his works was when I was thirteen, browsing through the tiny comic book rack of Book Sale in Baguio City. I was very much interested in art at the time and when I saw issue #22 of Fables, Cinderella Libertine I immediately thought that I had to buy that comic. I just found the art work so sexy and intriguing. His colors were cool and the work had a ‘soft’yet sad/dark quality to it– as do all his works. At the time though, being young and preoccupied with useless things I didn’t bother to look for more information about the cover artist or look for more Fables issues. It wouldn’t have been possible anyway, financially and geographically speaking. It was difficult to get your hands on graphic in Baguio at the time. I don’t know if the same could be said of today.
So years passed by and a college friend recommend that I check out the works of some guy named James Jean, because she claims that his works are very inspiring and he is kickass. His drawings especially, so I do a little research. I was of course, impressed and his works looked oddly familiar to me yet I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Months after, I’m checking out sex in art dot com and I see some more sketches by James Jean, particularly the ones of Sasha Grey and I am drawn to them. His lines are beautiful and expressive. His women are always lovely and soft to look at. His curves and colors are a dream. Soon after, I realize that he did the covers for Fables and I am even more in love.
Now that I am more familiar with his work it is hard to say what my favorite work by him is, but if I had to choose it would be between his personal drawings and Process Recess. His paintings and drawings in the collection are exquisitely done, most times dark and contemplative, and a lot of times (for me) very sad. They make me want to go back in time and hug my child self and conquer classroom bullies, the popular kids, and the jocks.
Process Recess.
Just from the number of volumes and editions, clearly I am not alone in my choice of PR 1-3 as the must-have James Jean book.
These exquisitely bound editions showcase works which are nothing short of absolute genius. James’ sketches, line drawings, paintings, still lifes, etc, all fill me with self loathing and an irresistible impulse to break my fingers after first snapping all my pens, pencils, and brushes.
I go now to blind myself with a rubber eraser.
Picking your favorite James Jean work is like being a kid at a candy shop: the experience can be overwhelming and sometimes, it’s just darned impossible to choose just one. But in the end, you do because there’s always one kind of sweets that draws you in with its Andy Warhol (though you might not have heard of him at 5 years old) colors and memories of some lazy Sunday morning with your parents and that kind of candy—the one that’s right in front of you right now—is what they got you for being such a good girl. So you pick it. As I now pick Diddley Bow.
I don’t pick Diddley Bow because of what I like about it. I choose it for what it makes me want whenever I see it. Diddley Bow makes me wish for days when my rains were all the colors of the rainbow, when I see a bird and imagine the sun held captive in its beak, when I can see how the sun is the bird and the bird is the sun and how they overlap because they’re both light, they’re both sky. It makes me long for days when I could see no difference between the guitar and the man playing it—where does the music come from? From his fingers or from the strings or from some strange mouth of a god I can’t fully understand (no, not at 5 years old; no, not now still). I don’t pick Diddley Bow because of what I like about it. I choose it for what it makes me want to do. And that’s to stop looking at Diddley Bow, go out and perhaps try to see in the world what I saw in James Jean’s masterpiece.
Hands down, the Umbrella Academy covers. It takes 2 artists (Gerard Way and Gabriel Ba) to lay down the groundwork for the guy. For me, he’s like the Brian Bolland of comic book painting. I’ve been seeing Fables for a long time, but I haven’t read them. It wasn’t the case with UA. I even thought it was James Jean inside as well! Next to UA, I love his Green Arrow work. He can make green into something like Mark Romanek’s.
My favorite James Jean masterpiece will have to be the cover of Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall. The cover is equal parts creepy and beautiful, which is how I’d describe most of Jean’s covers for this Vertigo series.
I am in awe with the energy of James Jean’s Toymaker. The work evokes the vigor of active playfulness that gives the painting so much life. It invites the eyes to wander and take delight in the littlest of details to which the artist gave much attention. The Toymaker stands as one of the most engaging pieces of art I’ve seen. Every aspect of the work tells a story, and it never looks the same way as you last saw it. The entirety of the masterpiece celebrates Jame Jean’s technical skill and incomparable talent for the whimsical and the fantastic.
For me, it has to be “Toymaker”. For those that haven’t seen it, it’s a very charming scene of an old toymaker basically pulling a Pied Piper, leading a bunch of transparent headed youth to God knows where. Looking at it really brings me back to the time when my own father would let me control his Lionel trains, re-enact full scenes from Star Wars using my action figures or make our kitten, Boo, disappear from under his hat and reappear in really odd places. I inherited a fairly substantial vintage toy collection from him. I’ve since realized though, that it’s the Toymaker(or toy bringer in my case) that invokes the concept of play and not the toy itself. It also reminds me that although I’m getting older, there’s no good reason to ever stop playing.
http://www.dccomics.com/media/product/1/6/1605_400x600.jpg
The cover for “Animal Farm” is simply beautiful. The most obvious and most powerful element of the composition being Shere Khan the Tiger. It is not merely the color that highlights Shere Khan but also the medium and technique used to bring him to life. And even with other elements crowding around him, surrounding him, and brought to the foreground, your eye never wanders far from the centerpiece. And if the painting were simply that of Shere Khan pining-down snow white, I would have been very happy with that.
That’s not to say that the background characters/elements are throwaways. Not at all, each character is presented in there own unique way. The sisters: Rose Red, dressed in pirate-garb, with lavishly decorated pistols and belt, Snow White pinned down by Shere Khan still wears a defiant expression, and brandishes a knife, showing that strong character that we see in the books.
On the left most frame is one of the pigs, with his posture and pose reminiscent of revolutionary propaganda. The pig, decked-out as some sort of revolutionary figure, seems to evoke the spirit of Ché Guevara with his facial expression and beret.
The Three Bears who had an appearance in the story are pushed back by the rabbit and the tortoise who were casually mentioned. The collage of children packing heat, in a scuffle, colours muted to not overwhelm the composition. Bigby Wolf and his posse in dark blue, to set as contrast to Rose Reds fiery hair. The sharp edges at the bottom suggesting a rip or a burn, showing that James Jean was not afraid to use negative space in the piece. And lastly the foliage that seems to hide behind everything, settling in the background but still lively enough to bring life to the background and the overall composition. This makes the “Animal Farm” cover my favorite Fables cover, and if I had to pick my favorite James Jean Masterpiece this would be it.
James Jean’s rendition of Death is simple and elegant and truly exemplifies the pixie-ish traits of The Sandmans older sister. Wish Neil Gaiman could collaborate with James Jean on a graphic novel.
Zatanna is one of my favorite characters and seeing this sketch of her by James Jean makes me wish there was a poster of it. the simple lines and high-lights on the sketch show that the raw power of James Jean’s art wether it b a simple sketch or a fully painted masterpiece or a digital rendition.
I support and collect a lot of independent comics so seeing indie and cult fave MADMAN Draw by someone other than his creator Mike Allred and by James Jean no less simply blew my mind. james Jean really captures the fun and spirit of the character in this very lighthearted rendition.
Seeing james Jean illustrate Marvel comics characters is a real treat and this cover of MACHINE TEEN really stands out especially with his head showing his inner cirrcuitry. It always catches my eye
I would have to say HAre/Bindle as my favorite.
First time I saw it, it literally made me want to touch it.
I dont know, but to me its just absolute genius to say why bother with the face when you can focus on a rabbit or cabbage and still be more than interesting.
[...] Chris Costello wins a copy of Process Recess [...]
Cover of Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall
Best you should edit the page name title The James Jean Raffle UNO Magazine Online to something more better for your webpage you write. I loved the post withal.
Jean is the one of the greatest you really feel his paintings are awesome, he is absolute a creator.