Jasper is a nineteen years old artist who’s living the dream – he’s drawing and painting almost daily and designing t-shirt images for a clothing company. When he was seventeen, a local entrepreneur noticed his artistic ability and asked him to create t-shirt designs and a logo for her ‘boarding’ clothing company.

Jasper works in many mediums, including pencil, water color, acrylic, spray paint & original stencil, printmaking, on board & cement-- knitting notwithstanding. He has designed and knit more than a few respectable toques. Below, you will have a chance to see some of the art he has produced over the last few years as well as some of the designs he created for the clothing company.

The Art

Thaughts, water colors & acrylic on canvas, Jasper Ellis 2008

Escher Grafitti, acrylic, spray paint, ink on canvas, Jasper Ellis 2007

Contraption Under Space, water color & acrylic on canvas, Jasper Ellis 2008

Do What You Love, acrylic & spray paint on canvas, Jasper Ellis 2009

Emerge or Submerge, water color & acrylic on canvas, Jasper Ellis 2008

I Love You, pencil, pen & watercolor, Jasper Ellis 2007

It’s All The Same, ink & water color, Jasper Ellis 2007

Family, Broken Cigarette, pencil & water color on canvas, Jasper Ellis 2008

Five Million Dollars, pencil & water color, Jasper Ellis 2007

The World’s Going to ... , pencil &water color on board, Jasper Ellis 2008

On The List, acrylic on tile & digital play, Jasper Ellis 2006

Board Design, acrylic, Jasper Ellis 2006

The Clothing Designs

The Interview

Me: So you have been making art prolifically for the last few years- what’s your motivation?

Jasper: I like to draw. I’m always drawing & I like it… cause, I’ll go crazy if I don’t do something. I’m restless when I’m done work & I just want draw. I draw when I listen to the radio, have people around, watch tv- anytime.

Me: What kinds of media do you like to use?

Jasper: I like drawing in pencil or ink, adding some color to drawings with water colors. I use these opaque acrylic paint pens for designs where I keep going over and refining the image to make it work, like the graffiti type image on tile- the opaque paint covers up what I don’t want. I also really like making up my own stencils & using spray paint on canvas. I make up stencils and make stickers too. I have this old van out back that I just keep practicing & making up new images on. I practice ‘til I like it and then when I am bored of it - I paint a new idea over it.

Me: Who are some of your influences?

Jasper: I’ve had a lot of influences – when I was young, I’d watch Xoph, an airbrush artist who was living with us, work. I learned a lot about taping and stencils from him. I learned basic 3-D and how to draw muscles and that from my stepdad. He encouraged me to draw without rules or things having to make sense to be together. I learned to use bright colors from my mom & I had a great art teacher in high school. The famous artist that influenced me the most was M.C. Escher. I got his book out of the library and kept it ‘til it was way overdue. It wouldn’t have cost that much more than the fine to keep it, but I took it back because I wanted other people to be able to see it. I went out and bought my own & studied it, looked at it in a mirror, until I figured out how he created some of his illusions. He used lots of mathematical equations and that but I just figured out what he did (in general) to get some of these effects and use them in my drawing.

Me: Where do you get your ideas for the images you create?

Jasper: I like to try to put two things together that aren’t normally put together, in a surprising way and then it grows from there. I just keep adding things & experiment. I like to try to put opposites together like the logo I made for the ‘boarding’ clothing co.- UP with and arrow pointing down coming from the bottom of the P.

Me: So, I know it’s a bit under the radar, but you are a graffiti artist as well aren’t you?

Jasper: There’s a bit of a community here. I’d like to work with the City or the Boys & Girls Club to be able to legally put art in the skate park. All walls should be painted- there should be art everywhere downtown- it shouldn’t be illegal to make back alleys art galleries. The thing I like about graffiti is that it is always changing-, my artwork will be painted over by another graffiti artist after awhile or I’ll paint over it myself- so you can’t get bored with the same old thing. When I have my own house, I want to paint on every wall- if it turns out bad I’ll just cover it up with a better one.

Me: So where do you go next? What do you want to do this year?

Jasper: I’d like to start designing clothes like starting with good clothes from Value Village, like taking two different shirts and cutting them in half, top to bottom, and sewing opposite sides together again. Something playful & radical.

Me: Do you have any words of advice for the student artist that read this interview and wants to be a better artist?

Jasper: Yeah. It doesn’t really matter what you draw- you can always draw over it. Just establish confidence by drawing a lot, practicing ‘til you get it right, and then just mix the things that you want.