01.14.09
Meet James Bennett
If you’ve ever seen a James Bennett illustration, you will recognize his work with one glance. His talent truly is humor and realism combined, and his work is stunning — having so many layers to unravel. To me, his illustrations really are stories that are as entertaining as any movie. Here’s his story:
I was the kid in 1st grade that could draw almost anything,and the nuns would recruit (force) me to do the drawings of saints around the school. By the time I started painting hockey scenes from the sports page at 13, I had always just assumed that I’d be an artist for my entire life.
But I found myself 3 years out of high school,working multiple jobs to pay the rent, and my only artistic success was getting the occasional offer to paint someone’s dog for $20. So I swallowed my pride, moved back with my parents and became a “mature” art student at a local community college. Fully motivated to never return to the factory jobs, I aced my classes for 2 years and won a scholarship to The School of Visual Arts in NYC. There, being taught by professional illustrators, I somehow put together a small (6 pieces) portfolio and began to get work right out of school.
I had always loved the artists who could make me laugh, like Mort Drucker and Jack Davis. Yet I aspired to be a great painter, like Maxfield Parrish and Frank Frazetta. So my style, which was so important to establish as a young illustrator, became a blend of them all. Being able to do funny images and incorporate them into realistic environments became an absolutely enjoyable profession, which has lasted almost 25 years.
One of the most important things that I constantly remind myself is to invest in yourself. That is, no matter what it is that you do, you need to not only believe and trust in your instincts, but be willing to invest the time and the money to make things happen. For myself, that means investing the effort to do large scale work for prints or promotional work, buying the scanners and printers and cameras, and most importantly, investing the time in my schedule to write, or think creatively, even when no real deadline exists. It’s that type of investing in your career that will always, eventually, pay you back.
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I love the idea of investing in your talents. I think sometimes people think, “You’ve got it or you don’t.” But I agree that raw talent is refined with investment. Thank you for reminding me to invest. I appreciate that so much. You can check out James’ portfolio at www.richardsolomon.com/bennett.html. It’s worth the trip by to visit, and I can already hear the oohs and aahs as you scroll through his magnificent work. Thank you, James.
