We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Andy James White. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Andy James below.
Hi Andy James, thanks for joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
Just by experimenting and trying to create. I would also read some art books to see what I could pick up on and apply something new. I was always trying to emulate what I liked so I would just try things.
Knowing what I know now I probably could have taken a class or two to learn the basics and some techniques to have sped up the learning process but also the way I learned things and what influenced me is what brought me to my art today so I don’t regret my path.
I think my imagination with creativity and my drive to create has been the most essential skills for me.
I think my stubbornness to want to learn on my own was my obstacle. I take too much pride in that sometimes,
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’m Andy James White. I live in Los Angeles and have for many years now but grew up in New Jersey close to NYC. I have always been fascinated by creating and using my imagination to do so.
As a teenager I was into skateboarding and punk rock. The art on skateboard decks and on the record covers sparked a creative drive for me. I started drawing and doing some painting to emulate these styles. Next came hanging out in NYC and seeing all the graffiti. I fell in love with graffiti and the culture and became a graffiti writer myself. Seeing all the styles of a graffiti name and the large colorful pieces was something I became entranced by. I was playing in bands at that time but at some point graffiti became first priority. After several years I shifted back to my focus on creating music but I still did a lot of drawing and experimented more with painting. I played in bands for many years and honed my craft of being the guitarist I dreamt of being. I wanted to create music that I wanted to hear but didn’t exist yet. This process and mentality with my guitar playing would later come back to drive me artistically. I was all self taught and not the most technically talented but my creativity and perspective is what would make me stand out.
When I came back to making art a first priority again years later I started with painting abstract paintings with a scraping tool. I favored it over a brush for some time. I’ve always felt that abstract on many levels can be the most purest form. There is something about it that makes it feel that way to me.
When COVID happened I took a new perspective and picked up a brush. I went in a totally new direction with precision and style. Over the last four years I started to blend the abstract style with graffiti, the precise style and adding in big cats and pyramids.
My influences come from so many sources. I get inspired by so many different things. My emotions ,thoughts and feelings have definitely played a role as well as many artists I admire.
I’ve been a daily meditator for over 20 years now and a lot of ideas come to me during a meditation. Pyramids , tigers, leopards, jaguars, cheetahs, have all made it into my paintings in the past few years.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
Seeing a finished painting or drawing gives me such a sense of accomplishment. I am very grateful to be able to create something I want to exist. When I look back of photos I took during the process I get happy about seeing the evolution to finished creation.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
Maybe my stubbornness of not taking a class? Not leaning how to do things properly before doing them? That confuses some people why I would take the approach I did. There are people who are just naturally talented at something when they pick it up. That wasn’t me. I just kept working at something I loved. The drive to get better at creativity fueled me. When I started out I didn’t always get the results I hoped for but you keep going. Eventually you start to and that makes you want to do more and more. You get to that point where you love what you can create.
Contact Info:
- Website: Andyjames-white.squarespace.com
- Instagram: @andyaw
- Twitter: @AWAndyjames
Image Credits
Myself