Art Behind the Fridge

Sometime back in January I posted the Sophisticated Jazz Monkey, something that I had aspirations of making into a painting. I had never painted before—something about it has always intimidated me. Throughout my life, and I am sure that many of you can relate, I have taken at least 6 – 9 Drawing I classes. (Is there such thing as a Drawing II course by the way?) Unfortunately, I have never even been offered the opportunity to take a painting class. This is something that contributed to my intimidation—I simply did not know where to start.

Leading into our opportunity to show at Art Walk, earlier in the month, I decided to move forward with this medium that my experience was lacking. Below is the result of my first painting, something that I am proud of and happy to share with everyone in hopes that people will find something in it they like. Thank you all for continuing to check us out.

—Jim Ward

Sophisticated Jazz Monkey
24X36
Acrylic on canvas

Below are the first two stages to this process. I first sketched and inked an illustration of a monkey—an animal that I am simply fascinated with for the many instances of laughter they bring. Honestly, is there a better section for amusement at the zoo than the monkey cages? After the initial illustration, I took it into Photoshop to do a color study and layout arrangement—the part I posted back in January.