Jack Ellis

I have been working in colors since the age of 5, so you could say I was almost literally born with a crayon in my hand. I won a scholarship to the Dayton (Ohio) Art Institute at the age of 9, studied Fine Arts at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and then made my way to New York to work in book and magazine design. My work consists of large, detailed self-portraits and portraits of family and friends done with croquil pens, in black India ink, sometimes with transparent inks and light washes of watercolor. In some cases collage is added. By applying multiple layers of ink, creating luminosity, I have sometimes achieved an almost stained-glass effect. My wife coined the term “icon” for some of these portraits because they all have some sort of round, halo-like object behind their heads. A more recent technique involves pencil with watercolor, and the subject matter may include studio as well as landscape scenes. The style is realistic, and sometimes surrealistic. The intent is to fill the viewer’s eye with my interpretation of the complex and infinite details of the natural world.