Artists know where to draw the line.: Artist One: James C. Christensen

Why this Artist?

I still remember the first time nana read Voyage of the Basset to me. The book was illustrated by James C. Christensen and when I say "read" I actually mean she held up the book, stated the main plot points and let me talk about the images as I was much too little to know any different. So why is this important? Because James C. Christensen was one of the very first artists that I was exposed to as a child and remains one of my top favorite artists of all time.

Here are some illustrations from the book:

One of the Pages

The Cover

Sisters of the Sea (My Favorite Then)

The Sphinx (My favorite Now)

Who is this Artist?

Christensen was born in Culver City, California but he studied painting at Brigham Young University and the University of California at Los Angeles. He has won many professional art honors including winning the World Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention, as well as multiple Chesley Awards from Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists. He has been designated as one of Utah's Top 100 Artists by the Springville Museum of Art, received the Governor's Award for Art and was inducted into U.S Art magazine's Hall of Fame. He has illustrated five books, a series of interactive journals and creates works both on canvas and in porcelain and bronze sculptures.

What does he do?

Christensen creates images based on the world's myths, tales of the imagination and fables that have existed throughout history. He usually creates these imaginary situations using very realistic colors and forms. The subjects, although fictional, look possible. The artist has made it seem that these places and creatures could exist in the real world and as a result has a way of making the viewer of his works feel that all things are possible if we use our imagination.

Why he inspires me?

I am a lover of all things imaginary and have always been in love with mythology, fairytales and fables. Because of this love, Christensen's works appeal to me both in subject and the way he creates the images. I love that he uses realistic forms and colors to bring these imaginary scenes to life. As a child I wanted to believe that some of these things, like mermaids especially, were real and could be found in our world and as a result Christensen's ability to make it seem possible helped form my love for his work.

Another element of this artist's works that I have grown to love overtime, is he seems to have a passion for creating female characters. If you do read his book Voyage of the Basset and look at many of his other images, a lot of his main characters/subjects are female. In fact one of the first images that I ever came across by this artist, that is my all time favorite, is titled The Responsible Woman and features a female character that is layered with a large variety of objects. Some may believe this work gives off the idea that the artist believes women should only be mothers and caretakers based on the objects, however I believe that mothers are some of the hardest workers out there and although being a mother is not for everyone, this work does exemplify the idea that mothers are very talented and have a lot on their plates and the fact that they can juggle everything is very impressive. Off of that work, there are so many other images by Christensen that depict females in myths and fables that are beautifully composed and I have quickly fallen in love with them all.

Christensen is an inspiration to me because I can related to the things that he loves to create in his works as i love depicting similar subjects in my own. I also love the unique style you can see throughout all of his works and how easy one of his images can be spotted after seeing one or two.

Overall, Christensen has been an inspiration to me as he is probably one of main reasons I love to create Fables and Females in my works.

Here are some of my favorites by this artists, You can see more of his work at http://www.jameschristensenart.com/