Member Profile: Jason Hardy

“The Dreamer”
 
I draw dreams
One by one.
They linger
When done.
Most sit
Gathering dust.
It matters not.
Draw I must.
While I can
I will create.
Dreams come first.
Fame can wait.

I suppose if I pinned myself down (which would be a lot to wrestle with) I would call myself an illustrator. Drawing has always been my favorite form of art. In the womb I kneaded an eraser. That’s a mild artist joke. I have lived most of my life in south Louisiana so I do enjoy creating images of wildlife, but I tend more toward fantasy images inspired by books I read or films I watch. I grew up in the 70’s/80’s which were the heyday of paperback cover art and movie poster art, so I’m sure I picked up on much of that as I got older. I do traditional media artwork rather than digital. I’m a lead-head.

My biggest influences were mainly the fantasy artists I admired and tried to emulate as I continued to illustrate: Frank Frazetta, Michael Whelan, Jeffrey Catherine Jones, N. C. Wyeth, Robert McGinnis, John Harris and many others. Illustrators all, who transformed words into images. I also enjoy pin up artists like Gil Elvgren. For obvious reasons, but also for the innocent nostalgia it invokes.
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I make art to tell tales. Which makes sense since I also enjoy writing poetry and an occasional story. I try to interpret what I read or watch in illustration form. It is frequently humorous or in caricature style. I tend toward YA or children’s art in many ways, but not exclusively.

Art means a lot to me. I have been viewing it or doing it all my life in one form or another. It helps ground me while at the same time allowing a much needed escape into fantasy that is often lacking in everyday life. Which, in essence, is what most artists strive for.
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An illustrator. That’s me.

​Jason Hardy