Art

Inspiration and Artistic History

Art has always been a passion of mine, I’ve drawn and colored since I could hold crayons, markers, and pencils. Visual Art has been a great way for me to illustrate ideas, bring concepts to life or to simply enjoy a quiet moment. As a child I was always drawn to abstract ideas, animals and dinosaurs. As I grew, my artistic scope began encompassing more.

The male figure entered my artistic scope in high school, as a direct response to my cousin’s advanced drawing courses in college.

Inspired by Roxanne (my cousin, of course!), who was studying figure drawing, I created Torso in 2005. Torso would serve as my inspiration for my “Faceless Man” Series, a series devoted to male figures without faces. The collection continues to grow by the year.

Though some of my best works are figure drawings created from pencil and ink, my most expressive and creative works are created with markers, colored pencils, or pastels. These elements are generally found in my “Elephants” Series. Elephants are one of my favorite mammals and represent positive and inspiring qualities, which I hope my work has captured.

The top [.elephants.] photo was created as a companion piece to a documentary short I directed and produced in 2010 titled The Ivory Role. To date, the short and this image have been seen in over 90 countries and counting! The bottom two photos were c

reated as companion pieces to “The Ivory Role.”

As art goes, every artist has historical and cultural inspiration. Given I rarely use paint and never create landscape pieces, some may find it interesting that one of my early influences was the French impressionist painter Claude Monet (my favorite Monet is Ice Floes). Monet’s influence is probably most seen in my early work, where I tended to use light or pastel colors and asymmetrical balance.

I’ve drawn inspiration from Michael Breyette (www.breyette.com), and traditional Indian (as seen in “The Ivory Role”) and Aboriginal art. I’ve begun blending dots and circles with rudimentary techniques (i.e. cross-hatching, shading) for many of my recent works to create pieces illustrating the various cultural, simplistic, and historical influences.

Recently, I was inspired by David Wolk’s hybrid art show/theatrical experience Charm Ape to create a new series (seen below) featuring human bodies with animal masks.

Art of 2015

Mother's Flower by Bobby James, (c) 2015.

California Dreamin' by Bobby James, (c) 2015. Inspired by "California Dreamin'" by Sia for San Andreas (2015).

New Year. New Love. (c) 2015. Bobby James.

Moondust. (c) 2015. Bobby James. Inspired by: "Moondust" by Jaymes Young.

I'll Keep Loving You. (c) 2015. Bobby James. Inspired by: "I'll Keep Loving You" by David Guetta, Jaymes Young and Birdy.

Runnin. (c) 2015. Bobby James. Inspired by: "Runnin" by Adam Lambert

Open Heart. (c) 2015. Bobby James. Inspired by "I Love You But I'm Lost" by Sharon Van Etten & Jane Seymour's Open Hearts Collection.

Come and Get It. (c) 2015. Bobby James. Inspired by Selena Gomez's "Come ang Get It."

Drink of You. (c) 2015. Bobby James. Inspired by "Drink Of You" by Jamar Rogers.

Bad Romance. (c) 2015. Bobby James. Inspired by Lady GaGa's "Bad Romance."

All You Had To Do Was Stay. (c) 2015. Bobby James. Inspired by Taylor Swift's "All You Had To Do Was Stay."

Inspired by "From Here to the Moon and Back" by Dolly Parton (from the film Joyful Noise). Bobby James. (c) 2015.

Inspired by Nicki Minaj's "Grand Piano" and "The Crying Game." Bobby James. (c) 2015.

Inspired by Jaymes Young's "Don't Come Back." Bobby James. (c) 2015.

Sometimes the darkest places ignite a fire. Burn bright! "Burning Desire." Bobby James. (c) 2015.

Art of 2014

Queen Isis. (c) 2014. Bobby James. Marker/Pencil.

The Life of Flowers. (c) 2014. Marker. Bobby James. For My Mom.

(c) 2014. Pen/Marker. Bobby James. See the Sochi 2014 version here: https://thebobbyjames.com/2014/02/07/the-sochi-olympics-and-new-art-flamboyance/

The Spring of Life. (c) 2014. Bobby-james

Originally drawn in 2007, I’ve recycled this image to be the cover art for #BodyBobby.

"Gerry's Flamingo" (c) 2014. Bobby James.

Kanani and Lack-a-Nooki – see the joke: https://thebobbyjames.com/2014/02/05/new-art-kanani-and-lack-a-nooki/

Created for Nataleigh, a young girl who gifted me a piece of art. Pen/Marker. (c) 2014. Bobby James.

Lion. (c) 2014. Bobby James. "Kingdom Masks" Series.

Lovebush. colored pencil/pen. (c) 2014. Bobby James

Art of 2013

Pink Elephant. 2013. Bobby-james. Acrylic Paint. This piece was created with elephant conservation in mind. Please consider making a donation to the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.

Charm Ape. “Kingdom Masks” Series 2013. Bobby-james. Marker – the baboon mask was created in response to David Wolk’s Charm Ape show. It served as the inspiration for my “Kingdom Masks” series.