Today we’d like to introduce you to James Art Ville.
Hi James, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I firmly believe that everyone is born an artist. Give a child a blank paper and crayon, stand back and watch them create something out of seemingly nothing. Human beings are blessed with not only the ability to consciously observe our environment, but also have an innate desire to leave a record of what we see be it through art, song, or script. Written language has its origins in pictographs and hieroglyphs for the purposes of keeping records, preserving history, and telling epic tales. It’s the latter that resonates with me the most.
I’m fascinated by stories featuring the impossible. Fantasy and science-fiction are my forte. If not for the fictional adventures of a particular band of brothers, I would not have been inspired to pick up paper and pencil for the very first time, thus beginning my artist journey. It may seem silly to suggest that the serialized tales of mutated anthropomorphic turtles could make such a profound impact on a young boy’s life. It’s not the most romantic origin story for a contemporary artist of the 21st Century, by far. Then again, I’m the kind of artist who marches to the beat of my own drum.
While formal artists would set up a canvas on the hillside and paint the landscape before them, I looked at comic book covers and paused Saturday morning cartoons to reproduce the bold and colorful characters onto my personal sketchbooks. Being able to see shapes and replicate them accurately was a skill that I honed most of my childhood.
When I think about myself as an artist, there is another aspect of my journey that developed almost in parallel with my time illustrating. As a millennial I have the privilege of being a part of the generation that grew up at the tail end of the analog age and an early adopter of the digital era. The internet was becoming widely accessible and the personal computer was affordable and easy to use for the layman.
I am a techie just as much as I identify as an artist. Technology interests me on many levels, and among them are the new ways to utilize hardware and software to create. Just as the word processor had replaced the type-writer, I jumped right away with awe and wonder at the endless possibilities of making art using a keyboard and mouse.
Mastering the hardware is only half of the equation, the other required fluency in software. My earliest attempts of turning pixels into something more began with Microsoft Paint but I would eventually experiment with and use other software including Arcsoft Paint Studio, Corel Painter, Adobe Photoshop, Bamboo Paper, and finally Clip Studio Paint (formally Manga Studio). I used to believe that the more sophisticated the program, the better the art. However, I can debunk this just as easily as saying that more expensive paint and brushes do not translate to more impressive paintings. A great artist can make great art using any tool at their disposal.
My self-taught journey as a digital artist consisted of following step-by-step articles, watching video tutorials, and plenty of trial and error. There really is no substitute for putting in the work – practice, practice, practice! It took many years of experimenting with drawing and coloring techniques before I was confident that I had defined my own style. It is during this time when I heard the best advice from one of my favorite artists, Scott McCloud. His words of wisdom are as follows:
“Learn from everyone. Follow no one. Work like hell.”
New generations today have the advantage of resources such as YouTube, digital art specific classes in addition to traditional art, and so many artists who have made it and are willing to mentor the youth who are interested in pursuing a path like this one. I can’t help but wonder how I would be different if I had someone like me to hold my hand during my developmental years. Then again, all of the victories and defeats are what shaped me to be the artist I am today.
There is no right or wrong way to create art and it stands to reason the same logic extends to being an artist, as well. There is an almost endless expanse of styles, methods, and content available today. Every artist’s journey is a unique and one-of-a-kind story of passion and persistence. I was inspired by the stories and characters of my upbringing, and I know this cycle will continue with my children, grandchildren, and so forth. Every opportunity I have to share my art with others brings me hope that I can be that inspiration for a new artist.
“The more you draw, the better you get.”
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Following artists and building a list of favorites is a common practice for artists of any kind. It’s natural to look up to someone who is where we want to be and use that inspiration as fuel to grow and achieve our goals. When reading graphic novels or admiring a piece of art uploaded on social media, I would take my time and thoroughly look over the illustration. High resolution images are especially helpful because seeing imperfections, layering, and other shortcuts the artist used gave me relief. Too often I have strived for perfection because with digital art, the perception of being able to craft a perfect image is technically within reach if you were good enough.
This mindset became a trap for me. At times I struggled with my self-esteem. As much as I admired the talented independent and professional artists, too much comparison had the adverse effect. Instead of motivation it would leave me feeling debilitated. Social media has this effect on people in every area of life, and art is no exception.
Another struggle that took me off-guard was how I commodified my time. It was harder and harder to justify the time required to sketch and draw for the sake of practice. If I was going to put in hours of illustration, I better make it look good enough to add it to my portfolio. A negative consequence of this was a dip in my creativity and imagination. Coming up with something new and original seemed impossible.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
As a personal hobby, I love to create fan art featuring the characters of my favorite series and franchises. As a professional, I take on commissions and projects that require graphic media. I primary illustrate children’s books, books covers, graphic novels, and even web design. My clients range from individuals looking to hire out an illustration of their Dungeons & Dragons hero all the way to online businesses in need of a new logo, social media promotional art, video editing, and more.
Illustrating Raising Dragons into a graphic novel was by far my most ambitious project and qualifies as one of my most proudest achievements as well. Every artist has a style and I’d like to think that my clients sought me out because they saw what I can do and felt like it aligned with their own vision and goals.
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
I’m happy to report that I grew up in an environment that supported my creative endeavors. My drawing was initially nothing more than a personal hobby, something to spend during my free time. Since I didn’t have a tutor or mentor to formally show me the ropes when it comes to color theory and other foundational concepts from the get-go, I was left to follow and mimic other artists as my primary teaching methods. That is the reason why so much of my early illustrations consist of fan art.
In my youth, I wasn’t picky when it came to making art with whatever tools I had access to. I can just as enthusiastically draw a dragon using a crayon as I would using a pencil. Premium pen and paper became my preference as a teenager, but I was not above doodling on a restaurant napkin using a ballpoint pen. I have my mother to thank for instilling in me the practice of keeping all of my old artwork, including said napkin sketches. This allows me to look back and see how far I’ve come from month to month, year to year, etc.
Pricing:
- 1.99
- 4.99
- 9.99
- 12.99
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jamesartville.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamesartville
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jamesartville
- Twitter: https://x.com/JamesArtVille
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jamesartville/videos
- Other: http://jamesartville.deviantart.com
