Artistic Honesty w/ artist Jesse Howard
Jesse Howard channels his passion for social issues into his mixed-media drawings and we’re happy to have him on this episode of Studio Noize! We just jump right into the conversation discussing a wide-ranging list of topics from proper critique etiquette, to maintaining gestures in drawings, blending media, and using homeless people as subjects in his work. There is a lot to learn from an artist and that is committed to being honest and revealing truth in his work. Another great art conversation for you. Listen, subscribe, and share!
Episode 126 topics include:
critique etiquette
the importance of drawing
finding your voice
working with homeless subjects
distorting the figure
black women as the foundation of community
different ways of teaching
mixed media drawing by Jesse Howard
Since the 1980s, Jesse Howard’s socially-concerned drawings have focused on the plight of the homeless and the disenfranchised, particularly African Americans in urban environments. Informed by his own unsettling upbringing on Chicago’s West side and his lived experience as a black man, Howard is sensitive to the way these populations are viewed, treated and often dismissed. As the artist explains, “At times, [a black man] is a prisoner within himself and/or the neighborhood he’s trapped in, usually because of his race or circumstances; one could argue that he was dead before birth.” Produced in charcoal, watercolor and collage, his figures are typically distorted, reflecting the pressure and anxiety the individuals feel inside as well as the perceptions and expectations imposed upon them by society. In addition, the physical presence of urban life is often evident through bits of newspaper, receipts or various other scraps affixed to the surface of the portraits.
See More: www.jessehowardstudio.com + Jesse Howard IG @stormbeforethecrisis
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