Artist Statement

James Christopher Hill's multifacited work ranges from traditional American realism and contemporary romanticism of  landscapes and skyscapes to traditional portraits and figures to Illustrative works of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Gothic/Horror genre. James alternates between traditional techniques in oil painting of Glazing and Layering to Alla Prima while he captures the essence of the exact moment in time while achieving optical glow lighting effects in his paintings that fool the human eye. He also is highly skilled in digital painting and creation for Illustration, Concept Design and even what is now considered Fine Art.  Digital painting can be just as if nor more challenging as any new medium to learn and create dynamic story-telling paintings which are becoming more sought after every year as the bar of artistic talent exponentially escalates each year from various digital artists. 

 

James received formal training at the prestigious Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida where he graduated with honors with a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Animation in 1998.  His senior animation thesis brought Ringling College their first OSCAR for Best Student Computer Animation from the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Science.  During college, James was selected by Disney as one of the top 4 students running for Animation Boot Camp.  However, Disney realized that he had very strong painting skills above animation and was asked to consider being a background and conceptual design artist.  After being told by the big three animation and effects studios, Disney, ILM and Pixar that he should a fine artist, he decided to begin his career as a fine artist instead.  Since then, over the last 16 years, his award-winning original works have been collected extensively by private and commercial clients both locally and in various countries throughout the world including Japan, Russia, China, Germany, France, Spain, India and many more.