My Process: The "Rainer" Shirt / Original Commissioned Piece

This one was a pretty fun one to get the opportunity to do! Thanks for supporting the brand and continuing to read these blogs that I put out.

For this I figured I'd show you guys one of my favorite commissioned pieces that I got to do for an old friend some years back. I was honored when he asked me to paint him something for a new house he had purchased. It's always nice when a client allows you to have complete artistic freedom on a canvas! I delivered to him something that I thought was incredibly cool and every time I look at it, I'm pleased with what happened... so without further ado I'll break it down!

At the time I was doing a lot of collage work still. I was doing ink on harder stock paper/ nicer paper. I really liked the way the medium was working with the heavier stock paper. The ink would distribute itself in an organic way with many in-direct angles. I was cutting them into strips and experimenting with geometric shapes for a while using the line work and patterns that were produced as kind of an "accent" to other pieces that I was working on. (Below was a cool throwaway that didn't make it into the series I was working on at the time... just to give you an idea.)

I remember having this blank canvas and thinking...

"Do I want to wash it with a color...? Do I want to start with it crazy bright scheme...?" 

I really didn't know what I wanted to do. I finally came to the conclusion: it would be really appealing to me if it would have slightly realistic animal element just thrown in there. I chose a Bass! Of all the animals a bass! 

As I said before at the time I was heavy into collage and I would peruse National Geographic magazines, old animal studies, picture books ,70’s Playboy magazines, mechanical aircraft pictures, and just really anything that I thought was a juxtaposition to place together but with balance and Gestalt theory I could bring it all together.

Once the fish was on there and I was happy with the way that it looked, I started adding color. I wanted to stick with bright greens, blues, pinks kind of that Miami Vice color scheme. Then the fun part began, I started painting random things that I knew I could tie in together later: a piece of wood that I used magazine clippings & spray adhesive to make into its own little separate piece. The donut was just cool thing that I wanted to paint for a while…I added it on there. The client is a big fan of Cafe-Racer style motorcycles so I added one of those on there for him.

I knew I wanted to include a face that was giving off the "hidden and mysterious" vibe but I wanted to make it beautiful... The picture above shows the idea of a hint of what was to come. I still was unsure how I was going to tie that in.

I think the hidden elements that are in a lot of my pieces was probably the most fun to throw in ie: the raccoon in the upper portion of the painting, the random half painted dragon, the top of the fire hydrant that kind of meshed the woman's hair to make it look as if it were in some type of bun or tied up.

Overall I was happy with the way that the face turned out and I was able to tie in little elements, like a crude octopus tentacle and leave some blank space where it made sense. 

The sprinkle-donut would live on forever and not be painted over. The whole piece when it was done looked like this... I was stoked on the way that it came out and would continue to solidify my professional portfolio and shape the way that I do work even today. I have a lot of fun doing commission pieces.

The tangible aspect of a painting rather than just buying it as a print adds so much depth. You get to see the paint that is put on thicker in places, the layers, the different elements of thought that went into making the piece.

My style contains a large amount of searching and unresolved lines that eventually lead into a painting that makes sense …somehow through all the chaos it comes together and makes sense....to me at least.

I like to paint things that I think would look interesting and when people view my work I want them to take the time to notice the little things. I love doing art for art’s sake. When we start letting go of that ideology that’s when we are in trouble and the creative mind has been put to sleep. Whatever you do that is creative do not be afraid to make something that people “might not like” your style is you. When I view other artist's work, I admire what I did not think of or cannot do. Art is truly a personal testimony to the world as you see it around you. Continue to create things you think are cool.

I cannot express how grateful I am for you guys and your support of the brand always with much gratitude and so much love,

-J