Written by Hello, I am Bill Jackson. I’m originally from the Gates County region of North Carolina, but also grew up in Boston, Massachusetts and Waterbury, Connecticut.
As a very young child, I remember stating that when I grew up I wanted to be an archaeologist, a botanist, an artist, or a movie star. Well true movie stars are rare. But to this day, I am still interested in ancient history, gardening and painting.
I received a John Gnagy art kit when I was ten years old and have been working at drawing and painting ever since. After an introduction to Fine Arts and graphic design at Paier Art College in Connecticut, I decided I wanted to go into fashion. So I landed in New York at the height of the disco era as a fashion design student at Parson’s School of Design.
Alas, I soon discovered that I had no aptitude for draping and drafting patterns. However textile design was required as well as illustration. I had a variety of great drawing teachers and developed something of a knack for drawing and composition. Turned out my career would take a different course.
I have worked in textiles most of my adult life. Parson’s drawing classes were great in that each teacher had a different point of view. One teacher was all about conveying movement. Another was fixed on creating a “beautiful page,” even if there was only a single pencil line. We were encouraged to be conscious of the page edges.
I will never forget the importance of creating strong contrast to achieve maximum dimension in a drawing or painting… due to the slogan “when in doubt go darker.” Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. But it is funny how all these years later I still try to follow this advice in my own paintings.
In my first year of art school we were obliged to work in acrylics, watercolor, and oil. My mom HATED the smell of the oil paint and turpentine and banished me and my easel to the basement while oil painting. My recent preference for watercolor grew out of the old tradition of textile designs being painted with gouache. I stayed with gouache until about six years ago when I started branching out from textiles. It was then I transitioned to transparent watercolor.
I love the way water carries the pigment. Being able to control the flow by tilting the paper or spraying with water, the puddling, the way colors bleed together to create effects I could not have planned. Just not the same with other mediums. And there are no paint fumes. My mom would be happy about that. Also…my cat has white fur. The occasional, inevitable “accidents” are far less traumatic with watercolor.
The obvious challenge in watercolor painting is to allow the “white” of the paper to create the light and highlights within the image. Some artists are masters of maintaining whites without using liquid mask. Unfortunately, I am not among them. I try to avoid using masking fluid because it can sometimes make hard edges which are difficult to soften. But if I want a white flower to be surrounded by a deep velvety blue violet wash, I will not hesitate to use the fluid.
These days, I vacillate between “fine art” and painting for textiles. I also create images for Home Decor. You can see samples at Art Licensing.com. For these images, I combine hand painted motifs with digital patterning techniques I picked up over my years in the textile industry. When time allows, I like to paint in a series.
Last year, I painted a series of tigers in surreal situations; swimming in the Bosphorus; strolling through Riverside park. I took a special trip to the Bronx Zoo to take tiger photos. Tigers are not especially cooperative or patient with having their pictures taken. But I DID manage to get two useable photos; one of which was used in my Riverside Drive Tiger painting.
I am fortunate to have access to the Metropolitan Museum so paintings by some of my favorite artists are available for me to view.
Sargent, Eakins, Gerome, Rubens etc. In the Asian Wing there is a sculpture I have been entranced by. It is a bodhisattva which embodies compassion. I took many photos and eventually did a painting; placing it in an imagined garden setting. This is my Moonlit Peony painting.
As much as I enjoy viewing the work of other artists, I am always most inspired by nature. Flowers and birds are my favorite subjects. I take lots of pictures at the Brooklyn and New York Botanical Gardens… and any other gardens I can get to. Lotus and water lily turn up repeatedly in my work. Lotus flowers in particular are appealing to me for their symbolic meanings in various cultures. I am struck by the fact that these stunning blooms grow from the muck and mud to tower over the water and reach for the sky.
I am lately becoming a bird watcher. There is a wooded area in Central Park which is great for spotting different species as they migrate. One of my buddies has a place in the mountains and there is a constant show of all manner of birds to keep us entertained and provide me with inspiration. The painting “Apple Gems” was inspired by one of his old apple trees laden with fruit last year. A recent spotting of a “rose breasted grosbeak” (shown earlier in the post) compelled me to do a sketch, which I managed to work into a new design.
Check out my Tumblr for images of my work AND some of the stuff which inspires me!
Bill Jackson
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Awesome stuff right there. Reblogged 🙂
Thank you for the compliment!
Wonderful arwork Bill, Loved the Tiger 🙂 and thank you for sharing him Charlie.. 🙂
Thank you for appreciating the tiger and many thanks to Charlie
🙂 you are most welcome.. And Charlie is featuring some wonderful artists Thank you Charlie.. 🙂
Very interesting tips, Bill, and lovely work!
Absolutely stunning work Bill !
Thank you Phil. Just took new pics for inspiration
Beautiful birds! (K)
Thanks! Just took some new bird photos I hope to use soon.
Beautiful paintings. Thanks for sharing them.
Really appreciate the kind words.
Very nice!
Joyful and magnificent Bill, thank you for sharing. Thank you Charlie.
Encouraged by your appreciation. Many thanks.
Love reading the story and the work is very inspiring, beautiful and very Nice!
Thank you for reading and enjoying the work!
Wow…great stuff Bill! I started with water color and moved to acrylic, but still love water color.
Thank you much. I have yet to master acrylic myself. The drying time is something I need to adjust to.
For time being I am STILL learning watercolor!
Fantastic and beautiful paintings. Great feature post, thank you for sharing.
I especially like your bird paintings.
Wonderful artwork !
You do incredible work Bill,thank you for sharing…