Liquid Art Designs
Liquid Art Designs is a fascinating voyage led by the artist, James Unger. His underwater view of marine life and his fresh interpretation and techniques are attracting the attention of many. What James does with an airbrush and the style he has perfected, bring color, light, and marine life onto a canvas that is a riot of bright hues and the shades of blue of the surrounding Gulf and bay waters. The reality of hammer head sharks, turtles, and a myriad of other sea creatures are presented in a lovely, real way, as well as being delightfully surreal. It gives the viewer a lot to consider and a bird’s-eye-view of some breathtaking, one-of-a-kind representations found in our Florida waters.
Liquid Art Designs is also the name of James’ Illustration studio. Being an interviewer and an “inquiring mind who wants to know,” I dove into the amazing mind of this very talented young man. “How can you keep producing this kind of unusual painting, and coming up with new and powerful ideas,” I asked. I think I compared it to writer’s block, which, when it happens, is very frustrating. James wasn’t phased by that. He simply takes a break and comes back to his work with a fresh outlook, and he has a lovely wife, Melissa, who is an adviser and an encourager when he wants to scrap a painting because he hates it. “Those are the ones my wife likes,” he says. Sounds like a good system to me…a loving wife with a bit of healthy objectivity who is in it for the long haul. Melissa and James have 2 girls, ages 7 and 8, who are like children their age everywhere…Hello Kitty, Barbie, in a world of pink and purple. Melissa works at Sarasota Memorial Hospital as a Certified Surgical Tech in the OR.
James is trying to exhibit in most of the local art shows. He recently did the Art Festival at Ken Thompson Park at the Mote Marina. He was telling me about a very interesting group he joined in Orlando, called RAW. It’s a co-op of musicians and artists who network, put on shows and promote their many talented members. He would actually like to hit every festival with his work and start to be a “presence” in the local art world. His art was used on 100 posters that were advertising the Taste of Manatee, which was a huge success.
We talked about his love of art and when he first knew he was attracted enough to make a commitment. At a young age James took lessons at Ringling, but was first really drawn into illustration by his love of comic books. Being in advanced placement in high school, he became acquainted with several techniques including charcoal, pencil drawing, acrylic and water color painting. It took him years to perfect the airbrush techniques he uses today. Much like a drill, the airbrush has different tips and even double action that is used in James’ paintings. He related to me that most of his Mother’s side of the family are artists and musicians, so he had a major gene pool of creativity from whom he inherited his artistic bent.
If you would like to go online and see more of James’ work, his Facebook page would be a great place to start: www.Facebook.com/liquidartdesigns or contact James directly at his email address: liquidartdesigns@gmail.com. You can also reach James by phone at: 941-879-7976.
Keep in mind that James also works in other mediums, like pencil, charcoal, and acrylic paint. He showed me some very interesting pencil works of jazz musicians and some amazing wild animals like tigers and giraffes. So this very talented artist is also versatile. Make sure you check his Facebook page for the listing of shows he will be participating in. You won’t want to miss his unique styling in any medium, but in particular, at the present time, he is concentrating on his unique underwater visions that are so spectacular!
