Four-Ones: Jonathan Hardesty Fine Artist (Painter) Dallas,Tx.

Self portrait,Jonathan Hardesty

Jonathan Hardesty

is a fine artist from Dallas,Texas.To be completely honest,when i first heard of Jonathan Hardesty, i thought the story was a little to good to be true.However, I did a little research and found that not only was the story i heard definitely true and inspiring,but the work he was producing was completely AMAZING!In 8 years time Jonathan Hardesty has not only become a professional artist but he has gained the respect of many well known seasoned professionals as well.Here is an interview i did with Jonathan,followed by an image gallery and links to his websites.Enjoy!

Jonathan Hardesty

Interview by James Walker for A.O.N

A.O.N:Could you please tell everyone a little bit about yourself and where you are from?

JH:

Well, I'm 30 years old and I've been married for nine awesome years. Surprisingly my wife has put up with me all this time! We've got a little guy that is nine months old and he is super cool. We are just now starting to get some sleep though.

I was born in Dallas, but the majority of my childhood was spent on the east coast in Maryland. I was always involved in artistic endeavors growing up. I was in a band for about seven years and we played up and down the east coast. My friends and I also started a film company later on and did a couple little projects. I was always trying something new as a kid. I took a lot of flak for always jumping around from thing to thing, but I didn't know how else to do it.

I am currently living in Dallas again and I miss the ocean...and the mountains a lot, but Texas has treated us well.

A.O.N:I guess my first exposure to you and your art was through an old design teacher who had seen some of my own sketchbooks and he pointed out the fact that he knew of this young artist who had gone from a complete beginning artist to creating what most would consider master work in a matter of 8 or so years.I was rather curious, so i followed the links he had shown me on conceptart.org and i was completely blown away.Can you go into a little bit about how long you have been drawing and painting? How long it has taken you to get to where you are currently?

JH: My path to art was definitely an unusual one that's for sure. Most artists that I know have been drawing or painting since they can remember, but I actually didn't start until I was 22. My journey towards art started mainly out of a hate for corporate America. I was working an office job doing all the standard entry type of stuff. I was filing, making copies, and doing other completely mindless work. Any attempt to come up with creative solutions or think outside the box was immediately squashed by my superiors. I vividly remember sitting down at my desk thinking to myself, "Is this the type of job I want to work in for the rest of my life". I knew I couldn't do it, but I wasn't sure what I actually would be happy doing. I started going through different options in my mind like a checklist. I didn't want a boss. I wanted to work from home. I wanted to do something creative, etc... I finally decided that being an artist would be the best job for me. I knew it wasn't high paying, but I didn't care because I was thinking about quality of life. So that day I decided to become an artist never having sketched anything seriously in my life. I went home and tried a self portrait and it was absolutely horrible. My wife was really encouraging but it was bad...really bad. When I tell people that story they usually say, "It's probably really good and you just thought it was bad"...then they see it and realize it was as bad as I described. I had seen Andrew Jones (on conceptart.org) doing a self portrait every day and I aspired to do the same thing. That's when I started up a personal thread on that website. I decided to post every single thing that I did as a history of my journey towards art. For the first month or so I didn't get many responses because the work was so bad. Over time though people started realizing that I was serious and started offering help. I received help from so many generous people at the beginning. Their simple examples were opening new doors for me artistically. So at that point I knew that I would need training. I started taking class at the university that I was working at, but I dropped the classes within the first week. The teachers were telling me to express myself and I was asking them to teach me how to draw. It wasn't a good match. I then started searching the internet for individuals doing the type of art that I thought was high quality. I wanted a traditional background to build on so I eventually found out about the world of "ateliers". That type of one on one training really appealed to me and method made sense. So I started attending one called Pantura Studios and it was actually in South Dakota if you can believe it. There were only about 5 or 6 students there at a time with 2 teachers (Hans Szameit and Sanna Tomac). I studied with them for about two and a half years and received the basics of drawing and just a touch of painting. That was the foundation that I needed to really move forward. They moved their school to Sweden and I began building my body of work. It took me about a year to get enough quality paintings to approach a gallery, but the wait was worth it and I was able to start selling my work and actually make money! For about 4 years I was doing that and having a blast. All throughout that time I was teaching off and on as well. I would have students studying with me in my studio or I would teach private lessons, but it wasn't till I started receiving emails from students overseas that I realized what I wanted to do. A large number of artists were asking me how they could study in this classical method without moving to another country or getting a second mortgage. Eventually I realized that I might be able to do something for them. It's hard to get classical training without moving or completely uprooting your life so I decided to bring that education to them. I did a workshop to test out the idea and everyone loved it. So out of that test ClassicalArtOnline.com was born. I have 20 dedicated students on that website now and I even hired a fantastic student (Aaron Reid) who is in the final stages of his training to help teach as well. He is doing a great job. We are currently working on downloadable videos, discussing ideas for a large yearly art event, and a bunch of other things. It's been fantastic and I am extremely proud of my students.

So, all in all, it has been about eight years from day one till now. Those have been the most challenging and the most rewarding eight years I have experienced yet.

A.O.N:What kind of advice would you give a young artist just starting out ?

JH: I actually get this question at least once a week in my email inbox and I usually reply with a huge response ,haha. To boil it down though I would tell a young artist that you have just got to have an iron will. You've got to decide you want to do this for a living and really throw yourself into it. If quitting isn't an option then you will make it work. Push all your chips in and go for it and the rest will take care of itself. If analyzing your successes and failures and refining your technique sounds boring then maybe you shouldn't be an artist. If taking trips to the museum to study master paintings doesn't excite you then nothing artistic will. Really analyze whether you truly want to be an artist. If you do want to be an artist then put aside some tv shows or video games and start working on your art. Find good teachers, read books, study master paintings, change your standard of living to something lower to give you more time, ask for help, and above all practice practice practice and analyze what you are doing right and wrong. Also I will say that you need to surround yourself with encouraging people. My wife played an instrumental role in getting me through those horrible first years of learning. Her encouragement was always something that kept me going. Art is an extremely demanding profession. The more you learn the more rewarding it is, but it also becomes more difficult. I experienced a bunch of progress early on and it was invigorating, but now I have to work twice as hard to get just a little bit better. Refining your craft is the fun part though. There is always more to learn, but having other artists or encouraging people around you helps so much.

A.O.N:Besides independent study,are there any other places you have studied?Or artists you have studied under?Who are some of the artists that you feel have helped you the most in your studies?

JH: Yes most definitely. I have taken a bunch of workshops with William Whitaker, Clayton Beck, and various other fantastic artists. William Whitaker was very instrumental early on in my career as well. He gave me the encouragement and down to earth wisdom I needed. He is a good friend and a phenomenal painter. I am going to travel and spend some time painting with him soon I think. I received a full ride scholarship to the Art Department and I am studying there as well. I just started at the end of this year and I am getting my butt kicked by the program. I am learning many things that were no there in the atelier training. It has been an absolute blast. I'm studying under Sterling Hundley, Ron Lemen, Jason Manley, John English, Brent Watkinson, Dorian Iten, Marshall Vandruff, Andrew Jones, and even James Gurney. It has been phenomenal so far. It's a bit tricky running a school and doing your "master's work" at the same time (especially with a nine month old in the house), but it has been extremely rewarding...even though I don't get much sleep.

Definitely William Whitaker because he has been a friend and a mentor. Richard Schmid has helped a ton through his book alla prima: everything I know about painting even though I've never met him personally. There are so many painters alive and dead that are inspiring as well. This may sound corny, but I also think that the artists who encouraged me early on and posted in my thread on conceptart.org played a huge role in my art career. I would have an awful day of making crappy art and I would log on and read encouraging words. People don't know how important that was to me. It helped me keep going when all I wanted to do was quit. One of the reasons I really enjoy teaching is to give back just a piece of what I got.

A.O.N:Who or what are some of the things that inspire you to create?

JH:My wife and my son for sure. My wife is my favorite subject to paint because I know her so intimately. Both of them have taught me so much about true beauty and how to look for it. Sappy...yes but it's true, haha. Now on a practical level anything can truly inspire me. The lighting on a person's face can spawn a whole number of ideas and compositions. My wife may pick up a parasol in the store and BAM!there's a painting. Most of the time I just keep my mind and my eyes open to what I think is cool. Sometimes it starts with just a small little item or idea and then grows into something much larger. I think overall I am drawn to that connection with people though. I'm leaning towards figures more and more in my paintings.

A.O.N:What kind of music are you into? Is there any one musician/group that you like to listen to while
creating art?

JH: I love so many different types of music. If you rifle through one of my playlists you will find gregorian chant, steely dan, breaking benjamin, sting, peter gabriel, spyro gyra, bela fleck and the flecktones, pink floyd, allison krauss, kids nursery rhyme music (admittedly for my son...but I like them), and tons of others. I definitely lean towards harder rock, but I love so many different types. My favorite band of all time has to be King's X though. I've been listening to them since I was little and they just rock. That is one band that I can listen to any time and enjoy it. They've never hit it "big", but so many bands cite them as influences.They were doing stuff in the 80's that sounds like it could have been written this year.

A.O.N:Alright,a few fun questions,If you could be superhero for a day,what superhero would you be?What superpowers would you want to possess?

JH: Hmm I'd have to say captain planet so I could clean up the earth...just kidding, haha. I think I would be someone like the hulk just so I could beat up captain planet. If I had to choose though I think I would go with silver surfer. He gets it all in my opinion. He gets to fly, doesn't have a lame outfit, is super powerful, and can travel in space...that's what I'm talkin' about.

A.O.N:haha,Bungee Jumping or SkyDiving?

JH: Skydiving all the way.If you are going to risk death for a thrill you might as well jump in with both feet.

A.O.N:last but not least,what are some of your current projects?Last words?Quotes?Is there anyone you'de like to thank?
Anything you would like to promote.

JH:I'm currently building up classicalartonline.com and I am working on some really large figurative paintings, still lifes, and landscapes. I am loving the large format even though they take longer to sell. When people stand in front of a 6 foot painting it is an entirely different experience. My subject matter is becoming a little more geared towards story telling as well. Eventually I want to be doing large figurative compositions like you see in the work of repin, bouguereau, alma tadema, etc...

Hmm last words. I would probably say if you are an aspiring artist stop making excuses and start practicing even if they are small steps at first.

If anyone is interested you can check out my main website here:

http://www.jonathanhardesty.com

or my teaching site here:

http://www.classicalartonline.com

Shoot me a message and let me know what you think of my work. I love hearing from other artists.

A.O.N: Thank you so much for taking the time to share your thoughts and art with us,Jonathan.Best wishes on much continued success.

A Gallery Of Jonathan Hardesty's Work

click each thumbnail to view a larger version