This is an interview conducted and written by Jasper Wong:

To describe James Jean would be difficult. The visual artist has had the distinguished role of creating art through numerous fabrics of culture. Following his graduation from New York City’s School of Visual Art, Jean wasted no time in making his mark through the world of comics. Holding down a role at DC Comics was a springboard to being the visual lead behind Bill Willingham’s well-received Fables series. Throughout his comic book career, Jean has been on the receiving end of countless Eisner Awards, celebrating the very best in the comic book industry. Yet his scope and influence has extended far beyond that into the realm of popular culture with high-profile clients representing a veritable who’s who of publications and brands such as Prada, Philip Lim, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Spin, ESPN, Atlantic Records, Target and Playboy.

Despite all this success through illustration, it was never the plan for Jean. The goal of becoming a painter was unfortunately side-tracked as illustrating became a powerful and lucrative draw. Almost a decade later, many fans are having trouble accepting Jean’s abandonment of the pen in favor of the paintbrush. Fellow artist Jasper Wong has an engaging back and forth about Jean’s roots, his relationship with David Choe, and finally his desire to focus solely on paintings.

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