Despite the incredible acclaim and awards that he's gotten for his commercial work, he has left that road to pursue a path in fine arts with his original work. I really respect that. It inspires me to know that regardless of his incredible success, he's brave enough to step out of that and continue to pursue art that's entirely his own. And even though he's already incredibly masterful of his chosen artistic media, he's always looking for opportunities to learn, continuing to experiment and keep teaching himself new things. His art is ever-changing, dynamic, and full of life.


I have the greatest admiration for his work because of how it seems he can tell stories within each single panel of his canvases. To me, looking at his paintings feels like stepping into a dreamscape. My mind wanders within the little word in the artwork, and because of his manner with lines and colour, I feel as though everything is moving and flowing and is somehow connected by a single life force. When I shut off my imagination and look at the non-moving image, it's like looking at a still capture of something that was in motion, as opposed to something like a posed photograph. It also seems like there are always new elements to discover within the artwork when you take the time to really look at it again.

Okay, before I ramble further, onto the book signing!

To ensure that we'd get a good slot on registration, Kitty and I slept over at ~moonlightflight Kat's house on the night before the signing, since she lives closest to the venue. When we arrived at Fully Booked, it wasn't even open yet. Kitty held on to the locked door and would not let go even to grab a quick breakfast, since we hadn't had anything to eat that day. She stood her ground while we went to Coffee Bean to meet up with Miguel ~merkymerx and to fetch some milk tea and stuffed pandesals for ourselves and Kitty.

When we got back the doors were open, and Kitty was wandering around the exhibit area. We then took the opportunity to bug the Fully Booked staff about where we could line up for the book signing registration and if we could take place already. A particular lady was amused that we were so eager when it was so early, and she told us to just go around and entertain ourselves and she'd make sure to look for us once it was about to start so we could be first. And sure enough, she really went up a few floors to search for us and call us to go line up downstairs. What a sweet woman.


Basically we spent about 9 hours hanging around the bookstore - looking at the artwork, mingling with other JJ fans, doodling in our sketchpads, trying to figure out what to say to our artistic hero. Waiting isn't such a tedious task when in good company.

Soon enough, James Jean himself stepped out of the nearby elevator. Cameras were flashing everywhere, and I was holding mine but I had momentarily forgotten how to operate it. Although he looked very down-to-earth and was dressed very simply, there was just something about actually seeing the man behind the artwork. I recovered after a bit, and remembered that I promised Kitty I'd take pictures of her moment with James. (I apologize, but I went and used the built-in flash because I knew my hands would be shaky and I didn't want to take blurry pictures.)


After Kitty was me. I was still hungover the fact that she got a hug from her hero for her birthday. When I realized it was my turn, I almost dropped all my stuff because I was suddenly nervous. I brought my Moleskine sketchbook and Fables Covers for him to sign, in which I also snuck in a short note for James. I wrote to thank him for coming over and for being such a great source of inspiration and other cheesy stuff like that. I was afraid I'd break into tears (seriously, it would not be surprising for me) and freak him out if I left myself to say it out loud. He read the note and smiled, then squinted at it and asked me if it was actually my handwriting. I felt myself making a sheepish grin and said yes, and he said it was amazing how it looked like print. I found myself strangely happy that he initiated a conversation with me and complimented something that came from my hands, even though it was just my handwriting.

After I gathered all my things and thanked him again, I asked the FB staff if I could have permission to stay beside the table for a little while just to get pictures of my friends. I wouldn't have been surprised if they declined my request to keep things orderly, but they were very understanding and let me stand where I had a good view.


When it was time for us to leave (as I imagine it would be creepy for us to keep watching him when we all had our turns to have a moment with him) we called out "THANK YOU, MISTER JEANNN" in unison as we waved goodbye. His face lit up and he smiled back and I'm pretty sure that if our warm fuzzy feelings were visible, they'd be exploding brighter and more colorful than whatever the Pyrolympics outside had to offer.


The Monday after book signing weekend, he was scheduled to give a talk to share his creative process. Me and my friends being aspiring artists ourselves, were overjoyed to be given the opportunity to learn from someone we greatly admired. With Sir Daniel's help, I was able to get seats for us on the first row, right in front of the screen where James' presentation was being projected.

It felt surreal, sitting there looking at the slides that showed little clips of his life. A photo of him as a little boy, some of his early drawings of X-men characters, places he'd been to, pages of his sketchbook from college, and then later on his published artwork. He'd talk about every slide, and I was trying to comprehend the fact that the voice I was hearing belonged to the same person that created those artworks. I could barely believe I was in the same room as him, that he was a short distance away from where I was seated. That aside, it really was fascinating to see how his upbringing and the images and artwork that inspired him ended up coming together in his work - how he takes certain elements from his influences, mixes them up, and injects his own unique aesthetic to end up with artwork that is distinctly his.


And that was my account of our first encounter with James Jean. (And we hope to see him again someday.)

For a long time I've held him in such high regard as an artist, and after having the privilege of being in his presence and attending his talk, I can now also say that I have great respect for him as a human being. He gave detailed answers to everyone's questions, and generously shared what knowledge he could. He's unbelievably down-to-earth and never gave any air of condescendence; quite the contrary - he smiled a lot, and always carried himself with a warm and approachable demeanor. Though in my heart I felt like a lesser being, his manner did not encourage that thought, and even made me want to believe that someday I could make a living off something I'm capable at and that I love to do, while inspiring others as he had inspired me.

Sandee was right when she described how he was delivering his presentation. It didn't feel like he was showing it off - it was like he was offering it to us. It didn't come off like he was showcasing his work and the story of his success for us to admire. Rather, he was offering us snapshots and some funny anecdotes of his artistic life in hopes that we'd pick something up and find a way to incorporate that into our own process. I'm very grateful for that day and will think back to it every time I hold a brush against a canvas.