Rene Magritte, a Belgian surrealist
painter, is famous for drawing a
unique world that seems to bring out
mysterious powers.
He showed people a new drawing
through expression techniques
that exquisitely transform and
distort reality.
His work inspired many people
and is still influencing through
various media.
@James_Maynard, the selected artist
in the Hall of Fame in April are
presenting new inspiration to us
his unique illusionary world.
Works that cross the boundaries of
the artist’s facts and imaginations
are catching our eyes.
Fantasy materials expressed in real
nature painted through beautiful
colors and mysterious expressions,
and are showing the world in dreams.
We are curious about what other
stories are there how this fantasy
world was born.
Then, shall we start an interview
with the artist?
Q1. @PENUP
Hello,
We’re the operations of PENUP.
First of all, congratulations on
being selected in the Hall of Fame
in April.
Please briefly introduce yourself
and comment on the selection.
A1. @James_Maynard
Thank a lot for choosing me for this
month, My name is James Maynard, I
live in Philippines and I’m 14 years
old (Turning 15 on august 25).
I’ve been drawing since I was a kid,
from walls to paper and now on my
Tablet, Penup helped me improve my
drawings a lot and to get rid of
“Art Block”.
Q2. @PENUP
Your first work was uploaded in
September 2019.
Since then, you’ve been constantly
uploading your works. We want to ask
how you found PENUP at first and
started uploading your works.
A2. @James_Maynard
Actually, I joined penup on December
27, 2017, This is my 5th account (or
6th?). I found penup when I got
my second tablet, I was looking for
a good game then.
Suddenly I decided to look for an
online art community because I want
to try digital drawing, Then I found
PENUP.
At first I was shy to upload my
first digital art so I decided to
browse art on the Daily Popular
Artwork, After some time I decided
to upload a colored page, since then
I was addicted to penup draw some-
-thing everytime.
Q3. @PENUP
You were transferring beautiful
imaginations into your work. We are
curious to see which devices and
apps are used to make these works.
A3. @James_Maynard
My previous tablet is a Lenovo.
The current one I’m using is a
Galaxy Tab A With S-pen.
I mostly use Autodesk Sketchbook.
I also once tried using infinite
painter. And Artrage but decided
to stick with autodesk sketchbook.
The first one I use is penup itself.
Right now I’m using both Ibispaint X
and Autodesk Sketchbook.
Q4. @PENUP
The imaginary world full of mystery
made our hearts flutter.
We are curious about how you came
to draw these works.
A4. @James_Maynard
Most of my artworks came from my
imagination. I draw and color
a background. Then decide what will
the subject will be.
Only few of my drawings have
reference photo since its hard to
look for a photo that looks the same
as the one in my min.
Q5. @PENUP
We could also see works that looked
like real places.
What kind of places are these
places, and how did you draw them?
A5. @James_Maynard
Both the images above are from
imagination, however, I used a
reference photo for the clouds
on the first pic.
Q6. @PENUP
We could also see many works of
the sun, moon, and stars.
How did you draw these works,
and what is the attractiveness of
them as a material?
A6. @James_Maynard
I think the sun and moon are
magnificent and makes a landscape
drawing looks done.
I include moon more since I like to
draw nighttime more because there
are less details on the night and
more on the morning (I’m the type of
person Who is lazy o add details).
Q7. @PENUP
We were able to see works depicting
human eyes.
We wonder if there is any special
reason for containing the pupils
rather than other body parts.
We are also curious if it is a
real eye photo or if it contains
the feeling of imagining.
A7. @James_Maynard
Most of my art drawings are from
my imagination.
I draw them more because they’re
more appealing than other part of
the human body and is more fun to
Draw since the eye can have many
different colors and the skin colors
fits the eye.
Q8. @PENUP
We were able to appreciate the
unique abstract paintings.
We are curious about the meaning
of the story and the meaning of
the painting.
A8. @James_Maynard
The first one is inspired
by a fellow PENUP artist. Its
supposed to be a realistic portrait
(I actually abandoned the sketch of
it but im too lazy to create and
think of a sketch so I reused it).
The second one is an inspiration
I found while browsing on youtube,
I decided to try and do one and its
fun and looks more 3d than the rest
of my artworks.
Q9. @PENUP
You are also drawing on various
subjects such as objects and
animals.
and curious if there is a subject
that the artist likes.
Also, we are curious about what
topics you would like to challenge
in the future.
A9. @James_Maynard
Dogs are cute and my favorite
animals, I decided to draw one just
for fun, I looked for a Husky photo
to use as my reference.
After posting it unexpectedly gain
a huge amount of likes, comments,
and repost.
Lanterns looks fun and complicated
to draw so I decided to do. They’re
not my fave Objects but they make
night drawings become better making
me inspired and I tried to do one.
It suddenly became one of my
favorite drawings.
In the future, I want to try
and upload different kinds of art
style rather than focusing on my
current style.
Q10. @PENUP
This is the last question.
Please tell us the improvements you
want to see in PENUP and any message
you would like to share with us.
A10. @James_Maynard
I hope in the future the app become
better like having layers and some
tools to help begginers like rulers,
transform etc.
And I also hope the app to have
My-days/ stories like the ones on
instagram. That’s all I wish for,
Thanks a lot again for choosing me!
How was the interview
with @James_Maynard?
René Magritte said,
'Everything we see is hiding some-
-thing. We always want to see what
we see is hiding.'
The artist goes beyond simply look-
-ing at the landscape and imagines
the hidden side at the back to
express it as a work.
Why don’t you try to imagine various
things through one material and
express them in drawing?
Trying to draw a work that crosses
reality and imagination and having
a conversation with everyone about
why you imagined would be a fun
painting life.
WeI hope that PENUP is also filled
with joyful imagination with every-
-one's work.
