My work has always been quite narrative in tone. As a trained illustrator it makes sense that my personal work also seems to want to tell a story. Sometimes I have a narrative in mind that I want to depict, but other times I let the story unfold as I work. I like to create scenarios that play out on the paper; vignettes the viewer can ponder the origins of and hopefully imbue with their own meanings and interpretations.

There is a definite sense of darkness and mysticism that permeates my landscapes and characters. Often I place my characters in a nighttime setting. At night, nothing is what it seems; shapes shift and shadows loom, tricking the eye and making us question what is real and what is imagined. There’s an introspective kind of silence and solitude that occurs only at night. In the darkness, the dreary realities of life melt away, allowing myth and magic to emerge and weave fantastical narratives.

Currently, the majority of my work is executed in India ink. I love the stark contrast I can achieve with the very black ink, as well as the luminous, watery, subtler grays of the diluted medium.

Website:

www.jonmacnair.com