Process Recess Volume 1: The Art Of James Jean [Hardcover]

James Jean (Author, Artist)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 19, 2005

Process Recess collects the art of James Jean. From his travelogue-sketchbooks of Vienna, London, New York, LA and Taiwan to his finished illustrations and paintings, we get to see a side of the artist that most have not seen. James's artwork blends media such as watercolor, oils, computer work, and sketching - all of which is collected here in a beautiful hardcover format.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Part of a new breed of visual artists operating somewhere between the realms of cartooning and traditional fine-art illustration, Jean has yet to publish any actual comics, but his award-winning covers for comic books such as Fables have put him on the map nonetheless. Much of his best work leaps from pure illustrative representation to the bold simplicity of old comic strips, seemingly within a single line. This collection is a sampling of the last five years' worth of his rough sketchbook drawings (images overlapping each other, notes to self and diary entries scribbled on the page), as well as his most impressive finished pieces-notably the "Recess" series of digitally manipulated, enormously unsettling images of school. Chris Ware's sketchbooks seem to be as big an influence on Jean as Robert Crumb's were on Ware's. He often starts by catching poses on the fly in public places, then lets his attention wander to a meticulous depiction of the setting's architecture. Most of the juice in Jean's work, though, comes from conflating hyperreal and surreal elements: impossible, grotesque images drawn with a manga-derived hardness, or rendered casually in a way that catches the subtleties of skin texture and loose-hanging cloth.
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: AdHouse Books (April 19, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0972179461
• ISBN-13: 978-0972179461
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,562,791 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a very unique art book..., April 14, 2006

By 

R. Brunelle III "XagentofthebatX" (Rochester, NH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Process Recess Volume 1: The Art Of James Jean (Hardcover)

When i first opened the box that contained this book, the Fed Ex guy was barely out the door, i was pretty excited, but i was instantly unsure of myself when i saw the format of the book. Small and thick. I started doubting that this was a good deal. I have been purchasing a lot of art books lately, and most are the large format books with huge pages.
About a minute into flipping the pages of it though, all my fears and uncertainty were put to rest. This is a wonderful book. It is jam packed with art. Drawings, pencil, ink, paintings, mixed media, lots of finished pieces, but also lots of pages right out of his sketchbook. These sketchbook pages give you an intimate look at the artists work, you can see lots of ideas flowing, and that he fills every page with them. Being able to look at a fellow artists sketchbook is a very eye opening experience for anyone because you get to see the things that they do that dont necessarily make it into a gallery showing, or on a website, this is raw. I love that on some of the pages accompanying a nicely worked figure drawing, was a quickly written list of things he had done on that day, such as go to a gallery, and watch. " a beautiful mind." Again, just a peek into the life of this artist. Not only that, but he gives you a look at which materials he uses to create his works, from certain paints and mediums, to his cotton weaved sketchbook.
If you know his work at all, you will love this book, if you dont, look him up on the net or just take a chance with this, you will most likely love it.
I have shown it to a few of my artist friends and they have all inquired as to where they can get a copy.
If i had to come up with a slight downside to the book, it is the size, and only because i would like to have this match up with the rest of the books on my self and perhaps be able to see the detailed paintings and drawings in a little bigger format. But this is digging for something bad because it doesnt even really bother me.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I had no idea, September 1, 2005

By 

Fred Nanson (Brussels, Belgium) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Process Recess Volume 1: The Art Of James Jean (Hardcover)

I first noticed James Jean's art on the covers of the Fables TPBs and I couldn't forget some of them. Beautiful paintings.

So I decided to try this book but I had no idea how talented this guy is!

What you get is 200 pages of pure beauty. Whether it's a sktetch, a painting, a collage or a writing, everything is gorgeous with details everywhere that makes you go back as soon as you have turned a page.

Yes the format of the book is quite small but it's a nice object and you get A LOT for your money here.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for students to see, July 2, 2006

By 

Carlos Taylor "Humble student" (Towson, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Process Recess Volume 1: The Art Of James Jean (Hardcover)

This book is small, but very worth it. It shows us how the artist thought and serves as a journal of places and ideas. He uses both sides of the book as if it were one large page. Mixes pen & ink with painted work, life drawings with imagined ones. It shows artist how anything goes and they should try different things.He is a great artist and this is a sketch book of what it must have been when he was a student.