All things James Flames

[Rick_a_c]

Reminds me a bit of Matisse or Kieser; creating the 3-d fabric representation first, and then crafting a 2-d poster "representation" as the final product. We've got a special artist here, boys and girls. Glad he entered the gig poster arena; hope he stays a while

[bmerel]

Reminds me a bit of Matisse or Kieser; creating the 3-d fabric representation first, and then crafting a 2-d poster "representation" as the final product. We've got a special artist here, boys and girls. Glad he entered the gig poster arena; hope he stays a while

agreed. 100%.

[jamesflamesposters]

I'd be glad to quickly elaborate on the process a little, if anyone's curious. It started with the paper sculpture, which was quite a process in itself:


Then I lit it and photographed it:


Then I drew all the pieces separately, this being one of them:


Then I combined the actual photograph with the illustrations, adding lighting and shadow to the illustration parts to match the light source from the photograph - so that it seems like one seamless piece, albeit with a healthy bit of weirdness. There are obviously a ton more steps, but that's the basic gist. Getting all the color separations for screenprinting wasn't easy, but I couldn't be more proud of how the prints came out.

[Rick_a_c]

[TKuczynski]

unbelievably cool.

[Grateful69Phish]

yousers - dig that drawing a lot

[sidewaysscott]

unbelievably cool.

[bmerel]

yousers - dig that drawing a lot

me too. that baby is coming to this guys Flames Wall in chicago!!!

[appletree]

Owning that paper sculpture would be sick. Hopefully I can squeeze this print in my house buying budget tomorrow. Would love to add this to my small Flames collection.

James,
Care to share the symbolism/significance of the keys in a large body of your portfolio?

[bmerel]

that's awesome, this guy seems like the kind of guy i'd have over to dinner at Mom's house.

Damn that sounds awesome. Between you and bmerel, I know I'll at least never go hungry!

Oh, and to answer one of the recent questions, I do use keys a lot in my artwork - it's a theme I like to play with that helps move along the narrative of each particular piece. And also, in a more subtle way, is something that can tie many of my pieces together (since I change up my style so often, I do like to have some kind of common thread throughout).

Of course, the exact meaning of the keys is left to the viewer - but for me it's imagery that represents the link between inward and outward expression. A beginning and an end, a question and an answer, an outpouring and a suppression. It lends itself nicely to those kinds of narratives that I like to portray where the scene is basically right in the middle of the story - so the key hints at the beginning and the end, and hopefully invites you (the viewer) into it.

Does that make any sense? I tried, haha. Thanks again for all the love everyone - means so much to read all those wonderful things. Gas in my tank...

here you go apple..

[finneganm]

I'm getting a real James Jean kind of vibe on this. Meaning: goddamn!

[appletree]

Thanks Brian. Very interesting. Keep up the great work James, been following you close since last summer and have been very impressed...enough to inquire about some original work on a few occasions

I'm getting a real James Jean kind of vibe on this. Meaning: goddamn!

Exact same thing went through my head.

[canuck]

Should I be nervous? Those phish went in a flash

[jrsheppa]

Very cool image. But what is it?

[ketstroxan]

Aaaand boom goes the dynamite