I first saw Andrew “Android” Jones‘ work while I was browsing the art booths at Wakarusa 2010. Being a digital artist myself, I was really drawn to his signature style, which I would describe as a fusion of light, shapes, patterns, portraits, and environments into a chaotic but very cohesive whole with dark, mystical, and deeply personal undertones. Many, if not all of the portraits in his pieces are hand-painted digitally, and I love the way their eyes are often the center of attention (they’re the window to the soul, are they not?). One of the coolest things I immediately noticed was that the prints he was displaying weren’t just prints, they were lenticular holograms. One piece would have a remarkable depth to it, while the piece next to it would have several artworks in one image that morphed between each other based on your viewing angle. Very cool.

He’s one of the only arists I know that use Corel Painter for a majority of work, which just goes to show that Photoshop isn’t the only player in the game. I tried using Corel Painter awhile back and it just seemed quite a bit less polished and intuitive than I was used to. Granted, it caters to a bit different audience. He also uses Zbrush for 3d figures and manipulation. One of his signature techniques seems to be taking a shape/pattern/image of some sort and creating a brush out of it, which is then painted and manipulated into flowing strokes and wrapped textures.

Conceptually, it kind of reminds me of a photo mosaic. If you zoom in really close, you’ll see a whole lot of attention to detail that is interesting in itself – nearly every object in the piece is covered with painted textures of geometric shapes or flowing lines or some other detail. But the main image only really becomes apparent when you step back and view it as a whole. I’d love to have a massive detailed print of his covering a wall of my office – so much detail to explore.

Another interesting aspect of Jones’ work is the live music and live performance components. He creates entire pieces live in front of audiences using a tablet strapped around his body. It’s very fascinating to watch – you get to see exactly how he works and the process he uses, though how he achieves the final result is still magic. Music and art have always gone hand in hand, and we’re seeing more and more of the two being presented live simultaneously. You might catch him performing live art at a dj set, or melting faces as part of Phadroid, a combination of live painting and dance that aims to create a “physical and visual audio state of synaesthesia”. The visuals are very stimulating, and will no doubt continue to get even better and more absorbing the medium matures.

See more of Jones’ work at his portfolio.

All images © Andrew Jones.