James Jean (casually known as J.J.) was born in 1979 in Taipei, Taiwan.

At the age of three, he moved with his family to New Jersey, U.S.A. And like most illustrators, he began drawing before he could remember. Jeans natural talent led him to pursue studies at the SVA (School of Visual Arts) in New York Citywhere he graduated with a BFA in the year 2001. His recognition in the arts followed by receiving a $10,000 Jellybean Photographics Prize at the Society of Illustrators, a Gold Award at the Society of Illustrators LA, and his work being published in American Illustrator 22. Currently, James Jean is a freelancer for DC/Vertigo comics, where he creates monthly covers for the Eisner Award winning series FABLES, and BATGIRL. He is also founding member and contributor for the online comics collective, Meathaus. His life and passion have revolved around comics, from a consistent style that prevails both character drawing to personal paintings. Jeans artwork blends medias such as watercolor, oils, computer work, and sketching and his compositions are well thought out that they frequently reference to art history, religion, and societal perversion. The body of his work shows an awareness and respect for both Western and Eastern culture.

Interview
Brandon Luhring, Scene 360: Have you always wanted to be a comic artist, or was that a natural career decision given your talent? I grew up reading Wolverine and X-men, so naturally, comics was a dream career.

Fables Animal Farm TPB (Comic book cover) by James Jean.

Youve earned fans for the comic book covers you created of Fables and Batgirl (DC/Vertigo comics). How did you end up landing those jobs? When I was living in New York, my friend, Farel Dalrymple, introduced me to an editor at DCs offices. My card and a hand-made brochure started floating around the offices. After a after a month or so, Mark Chiarello (a great artist and editorial art director at DC) ended up checking out my site and recommending me to Vertigo editor Shelly Bond and writer/artist Bill Willingham. I had gone off to Austria at the time, and when I returned, Shelly had left a message on my machine offering me the first 5 covers to the series. Out of an oppressive sense of charity or duty, they decided to keep me on. A little over a year later, I got the call for BATGIRL.

What is the creative-process to completing a cover for Fables or Batgirl? How much information is given initially; how many DC executives do you have to attempt to please; and what mediums do you choose or have to work in? DC usually sends me a script, and from there I do sketches that have to be approved before starting the finish. For FABLES, there is a small committee comprised of my editor, the writer/creator of the series, and the chief editor. BATGIRL was a little strange to start off with, because they pay separate rates for a penciller, inker, and colorist; and I just wanted to do a finished illustration without breaking up the production chores. They offered to get me a computer colorist for the cover, but I wanted to be in control of the whole process. But as long as I hand in something that looks decent, it doesnt matter whether its in Photoshop or on a wet napkin.

As for my choice of mediums, it varies from oil painting to watercolor to Photoshop. There are many ways to skin a napkin.

Batgirl 44 and Fables 17 (Comic book covers. A comparison of the distinguishing art styles of these series). By Jean.

The Fables covers look much more like your personal work than the Batgirl covers do. Consequently, both projects are from the same publisher, but they differ in art style. What are the differences and why? And how much creative freedom was allowed in each title? FABLES is under the Vertigo imprint, which started off as DCs horror-line for mature readers. They commissioned painted-covers which are usually more elaborate than the classic ink and color superhero stuff. And BATGIRL belongs to the DC universe along with Superman, Batman, and other finely muscled people. In my mind, FABLES is a complex tapestry of characters and history, while BATGIRL is all action and pathos. So FABLES ends up being more finely nuanced than BATGIRL, which the latter tends to be more graphic and iconic.

Comic book covers have changed over the years (i.e cover art has become more robust, concepts have been modernized). What would you like to see happen in the industry during your career? Im just an illustrator who really likes comics, and as a fan, all I can say is that the quality of work in comics right now is amazing compared to just a decade ago.

How did the idea behind the comic collective website,Meathaus,come about? And what do you hope it will become for the sites visitors? The site was created by my friend Chris McD, to publicize and complement the Meathaus comics anthology that weve been putting together for the past few years. The anthology was started by bunch of guys who went to art school together as a way to congregate and draw comics in a cramped, damp room filled with beer and machismo. Eventually, we all pitched in a few bucks and started publishing it.

Looking through your personal work, I see many references to different religions. How does religion affect your artwork, and what do you hope to gain from investigating it artistically? I wasnt raised to be religious, although the imagery and symbolism of Buddhist and Christian art still fill me with dread and awe. And illuminated manuscripts and silk scroll paintings are a constant source of inspiration.

"Recess 02," a painting by Jean.

What other areas do you commonly draw inspiration from? (History, literature, film, music, etc.) Life can be one big swipe file.

In past interview at KittyKitty, artbeatstreet.com, you joked about how hard it is to be an illustrator and still be able to feed yourself. Do you have other sources of income? I sell artwork and prints. At the moment, Im working with Ralph Bakshi on an animated series for the Sci-Fi channel. Ill also be doing some coloring for Paul Pope on the side.

What direction would you have gone if drawing hadnt worked out for you? I really cant imagine it not working out. If youre dedicated, its not that difficult to find a job drawing. Advertising agencies, production companies, video game companies, and Special F/X studios keep a lot of artists gainfully employed.

Being primarily a freelance comic artist, how often do you collaborate with other artists on the same project? Is this important, or would you rather create solo? I havent collaborated with anyone yet in comics, except to use a writers script as a springboard for the image. Id rather be in control of the whole process. However, I just started a personal project with a friend of mine on my site, so well see how it goes.

On your site, the sections displaying your sketchbooks and travel books are a great way to look into your process and to see why you are so good at what you do. How many hours a day (or week) do you find yourself sketching in your books? Sometimes, Ill spend a few days on a sketchbook to relax in between deadlines. During art school, I sketched all the time, but its been tough finding a good Life Drawing Workshop in west LA.

"Banquet," by James Jean.

When I was in high school/college there were many students I knew who would love to become comic book artists, but they always seemed to dread the art class lessons of perspective drawing, figure drawing, color theory, etc. What advice would you give to these students? Whats important to succeed in this field? When I was a kid, I would always eat my vegetables first. Instead of drawing the gravy part, take care of the spinach and youll soon develop massive forearms of a consummate draughtsman.

Besides art, you play the trumpet as well; when did you start playing? Do you ever use the trumpet as a way to relax when youre having a rough time with a drawing?

I got my first trumpet in the 4th grade, but didnt seriously start playing until high school.

Whenever I have a tough time drawing, its usually because I havent warmed up enough. The same goes with playing the trumpet.

Has computers and the Internet given you new opportunities? And has it changed your work in any way? Id be nothing without Google and Photoshop.

Which sites online have kept you coming back for more? Design portals like pixelsurgeon keep me sober. Its amazing how easy it is to find good work out there now. But generally, I try to keep my surfing to a minimum unless its for research.

"Recess 06," by James Jean.

Youve been in the U.S. for nearly your whole life, but you were born in Taiwan. Has your family kept the Taiwanese culture a part of your life? Do you plan on visiting there at anytime? Ive been back in 2001 and 2003, and Im going back this winter as well. Most of my extended family is in Taiwan; my father grew up dirt poor and sold homemade brooms at the market, and hes the first in a family of nine siblings to move to the US. So Ive learned all about the immigrants dream of success through hard work and sacrifice, but my Chinese is execrable, and its something that Ive always wanted to improve.

What cities/countries would you like to visit that you havent already? This winter were going to Japan, but I still like home the best.

What youre seeing above is the de-lovely Prada epicentre in Tokyo, decked out in the new face of the line, illustrated by James Jean. Id previously mentioned the Fables andUmbrella Academy cover artists work with Prada a few weeks ago, after realizing that no one was covering this story and I felt it was a big one Anyway according to Wallpaper* Magazine, the James Jean illustration is now covering the Japanese flagship store in honour of the release of the second installment of the Trembled Blossoms animation. Pretty damned impressive! Wallpaper* also had another nice photo of the Prada spring/summer 2008 show that featured Jeans art that I thought Id include. Vertigos Fables #81 hit shelves this week, marking the final issue for award-winning cover artist James Jean. Onhis blog, Jean breaks down the process for this last cover, a nod to the Piet featuring Red Riding Hood and Boy Blue, with plenty of references to other covers hes created for the series since 2002.

At Geekanerd, Degan bids farewell to Jean, whose covers for Fables were easily the most beautiful, most poignant, and at times, the most sexy. Its a nice retrospective, with plenty of commentary on individual covers.

This is a little online partnership I worked with Fully Booked and my day job with UNO as online editor. Were giving away three works of James Jean. James Jean. Who the hell is James jean??! Thanks to my fellow editor Luis Katigbak, we found this little paragraph that best describes him: Like Wolverine, James Jean is the best at what he does. Unlike Wolverine, James Jean doesnt kill people with razors that pop out of his hand. You might not know James Jean by name but youve seen his work. His arts all over the place. Its 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 His art is all over the place, the ubiquity is overwhelming. So theres a book signing and a meet and greet but we have something to help bide the wait. Were raffling off some of his works. To join, click here.

James Jean - Rebus - preview - Martha Otero Gallery, Los Angeles

Eric | 04, March 2011 | EN | No Comments

This is James Jean's work for his upcoming exhibition at Martha Otero Gallery on Fairfax in Los Angeles. While hanging commences and just about finishes, his exhibition will run from March 12 April 30, 2011. It's quite a long run and the works will surely impress you in person. The pages that look like drawings are actually prints from his sketchbook. Sketchbook drawings? Yes, mere sketches. Some of the grand painted works are actually borrowed from their respective owners and some are ready for the sale. I've seen some of these in progress but never saw the exact final. It's three rooms of space there's plenty of art. The wallpaper done by Trapeze Editions look great too. I thought James painted it by hand. One thing that's great about the development of James Jean which I'm sure a lot of you probably won't know, is that he's gone away from an illustrative style to more abstract works, but now, it's slowly coming back to being a mix of both. The layer upon layer of work make his works deeper in meaning and feeling. He's pushing the edges.