I was lucky enough to be sent to a school that had a very open-minded and encouraging art teacher. At the age of 15 

I was allowed to travel to a local art class in Brighton to study life drawing, something that was unheard of by the other students. Consequently, I developed a portfolio that secured me a place at the West Surrey College of Art where for two years I absorbed all things artistic. My style then, as now, was figurative. I wrongly applied for a fine arts painting course at Norwich, which at the time was heavily into large abstract painting.

My application was rejected and  I gratefully accepted a place in Bristol to study Illustration. I had already seen how difficult and fickle the art market could be so I opted for something more commercial but always trying to utilize my drawing and painting skills.

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Illustration at that time was used a great deal, from highly finished work for products to rough scribbles or layouts to sell ideas and concepts. Unused to the pressures of deadlines and the constraints of working to a budget things were tough to start with, but I relished the challenges offered to me and slowly found a way to support myself through my work. 

A lot of my work at this time was not very interesting artistically, it did pay the rent but it also helped to improve my skillsets and develop a style for the future.

 

For seven years I worked in London as a freelance illustrator, changing studios and workspaces a few times along the way.In 1980 I moved to Zurich, Switzerland with my wife and young family. Initially, we were planning to stay for a year but after a career spanning over 35 years, we are still here. In the beginning, I worked conventionally, pen, ink, airbrush, watercolour, gouache, oil, and acrylic. 

 

Then, in the early 90’s everything radically changed. I had been reading in various design magazines about a new trend in computer graphics, I was totally fascinated and was convinced this was the future and the way forward. I started offering digital artwork to my clients and because realism was much sought after in the Swiss advertising world I could offer photographic compositions that were impossible to create pre-computer. This changed my illustrative style enormously but still necessitated using all my previously learned skills.

 

Next to my 2D work, vector illustration, and pixel painting I was becoming increasingly aware of the growing 3D world. This was new, fascinating, and exciting. Imagine being able to create any world that you wanted? All possible, but if I thought the learning curve was tough for 2D software the time, money, and level of concentration needed for 3D was 

off the scale.

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It is a slow process. I have to first model the content, create the textures and materials, set the lighting and camera position, and render the final image at the appropriate size. Unlike painting or photographing in the normal sense I can change things, re-evaluate all aspects of the image, change colours, size, position, the feel of a material, how shiny or reflective, the strength of shadows, and so on. I love this process and having this much control, but have to be very careful not to lose sight of the artistic message or image. 

 

My creations are always photo-derivative, but I have tried to add my digital skills to create a reality by choosing exactly what should appear in the final image. 

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John Hollander, Zurich 2022

www.johnhollanderart.com

www.hollander.ch

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Some 2d and 3d images from advertising commissions as well as private work.

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