A white outline of a skeleton pierced by multiple swords, intertwined with ropes, set against a black background with red ink splatters.

about

A man with long blonde hair wearing a red T-shirt, black shorts, and a trucker hat stands with hands in pockets under a bridge with graffiti on the wall behind him.

my story

Jim was born and raised in Kansas City. The oldest of 4 children, he always enjoyed art and drawing and studied different techniques in school and loved weird art history. His path in life took him in a different direction. Five years ago the trajectory of his life changed once again when he did a local pop up market with Art Garden KC. He continued to showcase his work each weekend and expanded his art exploration. He now travels to different fairs and conventions selling his work as his full time profession.

“I believe art is for everyone. If you like my work and want to buy it, I am over the moon. But I know handmade art is expensive so I try to have something for everyone. So if you like my work, please, buy it, share it, comment on it, give it as a gift, get it tattooed, steal it, I’m just happy that you enjoy it that much to engage with it. And if you’re an artist whose struggling, or needs that push to get into making something that you want to, shoot me a message. If money didn’t exist I would give all this away anyway, and if I can help you out in some way, then my true purpose is being fulfilled. “

process and inspiration

I am a traditional style pen and ink artist. I use a variety of tools in making my illustrations from technical pens, to quill pens and brushes. I draw inspiration from 14th and 15th century engravings and woodcuts, weird occult manuscripts, old animal illustrations and traditional style tattoos. My designs start with a rough pencil sketch then bold outline in ink, after I have finalized how I want the composition to be I will make a copy of the linework and use that as a template on a light table. I will then do a light pencil outline before I start to ink. My process runs from 2 hours up to 28 depending on the size and subject matter as well as level of detail.

experience

Jim has been featured in Voyage KC magazine. He has most recently done character designs and a series of preorder prints for Vanessa Kramer, a local Kansas City based author as well as taking a multitude of commissions over the years. He has attended hundreds of festivals, pop up markets, fairs and conventions of various sizes, from very small pop ups to Renaissance Festivals in the tens of thousands . His work has been shown at Mattie Rhodes Art Center during their Dia De Los Muertos art show festivals and at the Wishing Spring Gallery in Bella Vista. He has won awards at Midwest Gamesfest for Best Original Artwork. Jim also is a site manager for Art Garden KC and assists at the Merry Market, First Fridays and other events curated by the Art Garden.