For years, Jai experimented with print, often adapting his work style, the materials he used, and other elements in his art to suit the print's surface, the ink used, and the replication method. He understood the dynamic between the ink and canvas or paper and how integral it was to use specific techniques in the creative process to highlight and showcase features or elements in the art, no matter the quality of the surface material.
He gained a substantial amount of knowledge on surface materials, i.e., canvas, fabric, glass and paper,
during his apprenticeship years as a traditional fine artist. Jai used a vast range of pigment-based oil and acrylics to paint on canvas and experimented with the colour, brush strokes or daubs to add textures and to generate light and depth by burning distressing the canvas. He learned the relationship between paint and canvas and manipulated both entities to create effects or specific features in the art. His awareness of these dynamics advanced when he experimented with fine liner pens on paper, charcoal on wax and even spray paint on concrete. No matter the creative material or tool or the surface material, for Jai, an absolute science with a touch of magic was involved in knowing, merging and transcending both materials to generate a
visual experience with and beyond the materials.
With over fifteen years of experience as a self-publishing artist , exhibiting and selling thousands of duplicates of his digitally crafted masterpieces, Jai knows the value of quality replication. Each piece of art is fine-tuned to come alive in print.
Jai's first ever digital work in print made in 1994.
The moment Jai migrated his practice to digital technology and applications, he applied similar principles to his new medium but now, instead of pigments, he had pixels. Instead of canvas, he had a digital file that Jai could print onto an assortment of surfaces. His early experiments with digital printing did not lead to much success or inspiration as the printing technology was undeveloped, less sophisticated to compliment the digital mediums and their capacity. In 1992, software such as paint and photoshop was in its infancy but still had advanced processes to generate dynamic visuals that Jai could not exactly replicate on both domestic and industrial printers. He knew he had to wait for the printing world to catch up before genuinely showcasing digitally created art. Jai didn't want to wait and chose to ignore the surface material in the printing process. He decided to dissect the creative tool, to understand every element of the digital software, its processes, operations, functions and even limitations. He knew that he could manipulate it to achieve whatever visual experience possible if he could understand it, allowing him to express freely as the artists, the creator.
Examples of Jai using surface materials as another element of the art.
A Giclee print on fine art paper made in 2020.
Example of watercolour digitised on distressed canvas.
Example of digitised oils printed on watercolour paper.
Sample of Jai's digital artwork, fine tuned to merge when printed on fine art paper to create a floating, layered effect.
Example of mixed media digitised on silk fabric.
Example of mixed media digitised on luster paper.
Jai invested twelve years studying a series of software and digital applications. As he learned how to use colours and edit imagery throughout this period, he witnessed the emergence of high def digital technology in printing onto multiple surfaces. He also saw the possibility of light projection and art in a three-dimensional virtual space. No matter the surface, the technology or area, Jai continued to experiment and eventually created a unique process in generating his art that can be applied onto any surface, material and look exactly as he intended.
Six key elements to Jai's unique process for optimising prints of his art.
colour manipulation
Tweaking the variables in each pixel and merging
them with scanned photographs of traditional
colour and light.
textural elements
Including scanned photos and hand made replications of rich and subtle textures, overlaying specific area to create depth and highlights.
composition
Fuse the traditional, more conventional way of arranging features with background by layering and merging elements and editing each layer with digital software.
light generation
Generating artificial light sources with texture and distortion to create ambience and atmosphere.
3d elements
Creating 3d models of shapes, objects and patterns to further emphasise areas of the composition and offer a contrast to more natural space
magic
Ignoring the process and injecting my spirit, pain, love, hope, dreams, imagination, and self-awareness into creating and transforming a mechanical process into natural phenomena