In Conversation With Jack Bullen

It’s hard to imagine that Jack Bullen is a self taught artist. His loose brush strokes reveal a type of realness that is often lost in paintings. Recently, Salt Lily had the opportunity to talk to Jack about his creative approach, his style, and his influences. 

How did you start doing art? 

I’ve always loved drawing, but I’m not great at it so I never took it seriously. My friend Nash is a huge reason I started making art again, he bought me my first sketchbook, and has always encouraged people to do what they like. I also had a friend in my first year of school who was in art, so I spent some time in the visual arts building on campus admiring what everyone was doing. Studying engineering has been very tough, which is why I’m glad painting has kind of taken over my life for the past year and allowed me to be a little more creative.

How would you describe your style? 

That’s hard to answer because I’m still trying to figure it out. I’ve been trying to use what I’ve learned from realism on aspects of my paintings I find to be the most important, while using looser brush work where I don’t want people to look as much. My favorite paintings from other artists always have bold brushwork and unique subjects, I hope my style will evolve and my paintings will have these qualities too.

Who are some of your influences? 

Mark Tennant is my biggest one for sure, I probably spent like 30 minutes a day on his Instagram page just staring at his art. Edgar Degas is another big influence, and I also really love Genieve Figgis’ work. In any medium, my favorite artists are ones who take risks and make what they like, I’m always inspired by anything experimental. 

 Are you self taught?

Yes, I started learning through YouTube videos about two years ago. YouTube taught me the basics, like how to mix colours with a limited palette, always paint dark to light, use a big brush, but what has helped me the most is just reading about or watching other artists. Damian Lechoszest posted a time-lapse video of a portrait painting on Instagram that completely changed my approach. 

What is your creative process like? 

I have a lot of ideas for paintings jotted down on the notes app on my phone. I’ll spend hours online looking up stuff like “Nun doing yoga” and not find a single photo worth painting, but then I’ll watch a David Lynch or Harmony Korine film and it will have exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. I’ve also been photoshopping my own scenes to paint, but I’m still getting the hang of it. 

Josh Baked in Oil

What is your favorite medium?

My favourite medium is oil paint, I occasionally use acrylic to paint on my clothes.

 Do you have a favorite theme to make art about? 

Lately I’ve been looking for surreal or absurd scenes to paint, or I try to change my reference photo to make it seem a little off. I guess these aren’t really themes, but I think they are an effective way to get a point across if I ever were to have one. I haven’t been successful in photoshopping original surreal scenes, because it’s tough to make one without it coming off as hack or tacky. I find the most effective surreal or absurd photos/paintings are usually very subtle. A man drinking medicine with his shirt off is pretty normal, but drinking the medicine out of a slipper makes no sense and amazes me. 

What is your favorite piece you’ve ever created? 

The portrait of my father is my favorite, because of the sentimental value, and I just like how unconventional the composition is, with him looking way off to the side. The other portrait I have posted also has a weird composition, because of the perspective distortion, but the one of my dad is much more painterly so it’s more interesting to me. 

Portrait of My Father

I love your piece “Faceless Man” what were your intentions for that piece?

I just wanted to paint the pants, to challenge myself a bit, and thought that if I painted his face people wouldn’t look at the pants as much. I also just love when a figure isn’t given a face, because it doesn’t make sense, and changes the whole mood of the painting.

Faceless Man

I also really like the piece “Man Take Swig of Cough Syrup From Slipper” what is the story behind it?

That’s a scene from the film Julien Donkey-Boy. I will definitely look to Harmony Korine, the director, for inspiration when I start setting up my own reference photos.

Man Take Swig of Cough Syrup From Slipper

What are some of your goals as an artist? 

My current goal is to start taking more reference photos. During quarantine my only exercise has been biking around taking photos, I’ve taken hundreds of random things I see and only have one so far that I plan on painting. I also just want to continue developing my painting skills, I have a lot to learn. 

Do you have any exciting projects coming up? 

I’m currently working on a painting of me and my sister when we were kids, we’re on coin operated kiddie rides and have matching Disneyland sweaters. I think it will be my new favorite. I’ve changed a lot from the original photo to hopefully change the mood of the scene.

See more of Jack’s work on his Instagram: gravitronflightattendant