And good will to all deviantARTists

I just finished reading an article by Wired Magazine on the ambitious origins of James Cameron's Avatar. Imagine having to create entirely new cinematic technology, just to realize your own unique vision of things.

I'm watching it this weekend, in a digital 3-D cinema. There's now way I'm not watching this in 3-D. Imagine, Cameron crafted an entire world, conceptualizing an alien language, music, atmospheric environment, and even the nomenclature of the alien planet's native flora and fauna.

Imagine, having to wait years before your greatest vision can come to fruitition. Even before that - Cameron had been waiting to make Avatar ever since he'd seen the first Star Wars when he was 22 years old. Waiting thirty plus years to out-Lucas Lucas, so Wired put it.

Some naysayers have darkly predicted it to be the next Phantom Menace. But whatever, it's another step in cinematic history. I'm excited to see Cameron's magnum opus. Imagine, waiting years to execute his vision.

It kind of makes me think about my commitment to my own art. How far would I go? Man, just imagine.

There's a Megaman 10 in the works!

And apparently one of the Robot Masters is a bot called "Sheep Man."

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God. DAMN.

As I shared in my last entry, I had the amazing opportunity to speak with the extraordinary James Jean of "Fables" fame. The guy is soft-spoken, somewhat shy, but undeniably talented.

Here now is a link to my complete conversation with James. My interview appeared in print, but as is the nature of press, it was trimmed and edited for publication purposes. While I'd like to link that, that interview is missing so much of the insight the full interview reveals. So, I want to share this conversation in full with all of you.

He's a great artist, and he does have his quirks. James however has worked hard to be successful, and all artists can benefit from what he has to share.

Here is my complete conversation, linked to a preface on my Live Journal.

Enjoy reading!

Yesterday I had the amazing opportunity to have a one-on-one interview with James Jean, master cover painter of Fables, The Umbrella Academy, and many works in an outstanding range of media. These include bags for Prada, chalk murals for Lance Armstrong, and the CD sleeve for My Chemical Romance's album The Black Parade.

You may know him for his surreal, gothic comic covers and unearthly paintings. The guy oozes talent not just for what he does but in the number of ways he does it. He's not limited to one medium - he does it all. But that in itself makes knowing James a surprise.

My first impressions of the man is that he's down-to-earth, and soft spoken almost to the point of hermitage. "I'm a recluse," he admitted, "which is why I've been growing my hair long - to hide." The guy is amazingly talented, but very humble and almost plain about it. This is a man who's won seven Eisner awards - six for Best Cover Artist and one for Best Short Story, if I'm not mistaken. But fellow artists, take note: what's interesting is that when he started out doing Fables, he was doing it to pay rent. As that was his first major gig, he was using it to take care of his daily needs.

Yes, James admitted he was a starving artist. He used to sleep on the floor of a studio pad he rented with two other artists, and ate out at Taco Bell. Coming from an Asian heritage, it wasn't easy for him to convince his parents - who'd been grooming him to become a doctor - that he wanted to become an artist. Asians, take note too: James had trouble persuading his parents to accept that art was his calling. How many Asian families groom their kids to become successors to their businesses, at the cost of that kid's passion? Being Filipino, and having gone to a school attended by mostly Chinese kids, I'd seen this cost around me all the time.

But James stayed true despite hardship and now look - he's a rock star. People waited for hours in line at the book store where he was having a book signing. I asked a fan - who looked like he was in his early 30's - how long he'd been there. "Three hours?" he said, unsure. I asked if he would even wait for three more hours. "Why not? James Jean is here. It's a once-in-a-lifetime event."

What I'm most proud of my encounter with James is having brought this little-known young adult book with me. It's a creepy novel by William Sleator entitled Fingers, and I picked it up two years ago because I thought the cover as cool. I had read the artist's name (cover art by James Jean) but it didn't register at the time. Only a few days ago, after going through my book shelf, did that realization hit me: holy crap, it's by James Jean!

When I showed him the book, he laughed. "Wow, I haven't seen this in a while. In fact, I've never seen it in print." Until last night, which I'm very proud of. I now have what could be the only autographed copy of Fingers in the world.

Here's an interview with James Jean from littlechimpsociety. It's got samples of his work, so those new to him can see what the big deal is. Those familiar with him may see even more work by him.

And because I have no shame, here's a primer I wrote to coincide with James' first event in Manila.

That's it for now. I have to transcribe my whole interview and draft more stories. If you're interested in reading my interview with, you can drop by this journal next week.

Cheers!