Jean Paul Beumer was shortlisted for the Jackson’s Painting Prize this year with his work fig. 50b Curious. At a monumental scale of over one metre in height, the coloured pencil is a meticulous botanical study of a grass, which evokes the classic simplicity of traditional botanical book illustration. Here, Jean Paul explains his process of selecting subject matter, his love of detail and what drives his work.
Above image: fig. 48b Oblivion, 2017, Jean Paul Beumer, Colour pencil on canvas, 122 x 162 cm | 48 x 63.8 in.
Jean Paul Beumer
Colour pencil on canvas, 122 x 166 cm | 48 x 65.4 in.
Clare: Can you tell us about your artistic background/education?
Jean Paul: Although creativity and art was not encouraged at home when I was a child, I did have an interest in it from an early age. One of my aunts was a professional artist and her husband too, they most definitely inspired me to pursue a creative career. I enrolled into the Royal Academy of Arts in The Hague (The Netherlands) and got my degree in graphic design exactly 25 years ago.
Jean Paul Beumer
Colour pencil on canvas, 122 x 166 cm | 48 x 65.4 in.
Clare: Where does a drawing begin for you? Can you take us through your process?
Jean Paul: It all starts with a desire to create something monumentally gorgeous. Perhaps not the most exalted reason, but it’s the truth. Then again, gorgeousness is a very relative and personal term. All this is a starting point at which I find myself every time. I am kinda harsh on myself – too harsh, my partner says. But it’s a crucial step in the process. And the most interesting I think. What the hell is happening in an artists’ brain? I can’t describe the process, I’m trying to live the process, be very aware of it.
Jean Paul Beumer
Colour pencil on canvas, 70 x 100 cm | 27.6 x 39.4 in.
Clare: The size of your works is quite unusual in the tradition of botanical painting. Can you tell us about your experience working with such detailed subject matter on a large surface? What do you use as an easel?
Jean Paul: The bigger the better. Greatness gives way to enormous detailing. The more detail, the better. That is to say, at the same time, the less strokes to make the detail, the better as well. I had a neighbour who was quite handy with metal. I commissioned an extra large metal easel with him, one I can sit at without the drawing panel resting on the floor.
Clare: Do you use oil or wax based coloured pencils? What other materials or tools do you use to create texture?
Jean Paul: Wax based. I would love to try oil based some time. I don’t use any other materials or tools.
Jean Paul Beumer
Colour pencil on canvas, 122 x 166 cm | 48 x 65.4 in.
Clare: Can you tell us about the titles of your works? Are they titled in order of their creation?
Jean Paul: The numbers in the titles refer to my age at the time the drawing was made. It all started when I was 48. It would seem logical to number the drawing, starting with 1. But that was boring. As I was aiming for a reference to old botanical books, I used the number as some sort of gimmick by adding the prefix “fig.”. The titles themselves are extremely personal. I usually have a list of possible titles. I look for contradictions and similarities within the artwork, experience the way it makes me feel and then decide.
Jean Paul Beumer
Colour pencil on canvas, 120 x 120 cm | 47.2 x 47.2 in.
Clare: Do you have a regular drawing practice? If so, what materials do you use and how often do you draw?
Jean Paul: I usually find a subject without really searching for one. It’s often more serendipitous than premeditation, I just come across it. As for materials, I use regular pencil to draw the shape, after that only coloured pencils. When working on a drawing the time spent on it varies from day to day but in the end it can amount up to 60+ hours. I’m getting faster at drawing but at the same time I’m getting even more detailed which is more time-consuming.
Jean Paul Beumer
Colour pencil on canvas, 122 x 170 cm | 48 x 66.9 in.
Clare: What are your most important artist’s tools? Do you have any favourites?
Jean Paul: My eyes. It starts with seeing (a subject), followed by looking (at details). But also my studio. It needs to be literally “my space”, everything in its right place.
Jean Paul Beumer
Colour pencil on canvas, 122 x 166 cm | 48 x 65.4 in.
Clare: How has the lockdown of the last few months affected your practice?
Jean Paul: The lockdown has affected me tremendously. I haven’t been able to make art at all because all creative energy is being used to survive.
Jean Paul Beumer
Colour pencil on canvas, 65 x 80 cm | 25.6 x 31.5 in.
Clare: What are your art influences? Who are your favourite contemporary or historical artists and why?
Jean Paul: I can’t say there are any particular historical artists I admire, I love them all. Except for Andy Warhol’s art and all his copy-cats, that tripe just makes me want to vomit. I do applaud all contemporary artists for making the current art horizon so damn magnificent to gaze at.
Jean Paul Beumer
Colour pencil on canvas, 40 x 80 cm | 15.7 x 31.5 in.
Jean Paul Beumer
Colour pencil on canvas, 65 x 80 cm | 25.6 x 31.5 in.
Clare: What makes a good day in the studio for you?
Jean Paul: It’s hard to pinpoint, it’s a combination of factors that need to be just right. I can easily skip a day of drawing because I cant find the right socks to wear. On the other hand, having done a small piece of quality drawing can make me very happy.
Clare: Can you tell us where we can see more of your work online or in the flesh?
Jean Paul: For now, I have nothing coming up. I don’t even draw. I did sell all my drawings but am currently too uninspired to create anything new.
20 thoughts on “Jean Paul Beumer: Live the Process”
Please assist:
To what structure do which you tape the paper?
I have 300 pound elephant paper that needs a support.
It looks like paper packaging tape to me…:) If you have a large
enough sheet, you can use even things like ducktape if you want to,
then trim the edges.
Hi Anne,
I tape the paper to a very large wooden panel (160 x 200 cm) which I constructed myself. When I just started these drawings, I treated the paper like watercolour paper: I sponged it really wet and use paper packaging tape (like Bojoura says) to stick it to the panel. I let it dry before I start drawing. A good tip is when you’re sponging really large pieces of paper to have an assistent 🙂
Drawing with colour pencils on canvas is
a really interesting concept. Colour
pencil is a very engaging, laborious and
vastly underrated medium. It seems
works on paper, in general are far less
valued. Why? Is it the perceived
impermanence of paper? Well Leonardo
Da Vinci’s drawings survive. Is it that it’s
seen as less dramatic, less evolved?
Well that’s BS; the degree of layering in
pencil is far greater to achieve equal
depth of saturation. Time we started to
celebrate the slower, more intimate
media. Fear not Jean Paul, like our
bodies at the moment your creativity is
merely sheltering. It will return when
safe to do so.
I have the same feeling about or art materials.
Well said.Bryan
I fear only fear itself Blu 🙂
Seriously, though, I agree with you.
Thanks for the kind words!
Very interesting interview and incredibly
beautiful work from this artist.
Interested to know what brand of was
colouring pencils does he use please?
Hiya Irene,
Thank you, much appreciated! 🙂 🙂 🙂
I use Derwent only, Procolour and Artists’.
Very best wishes,
JP
Absolutely blown away and astounded how Jean Paul achieves what looks like botanical water colour with wax pencils! Does he do any art classes online as I’d love to see his technique in action.
Hello Helen,
Thank you for your praise 🙂
I don’t do any classes I’m afraid. There are some vids of me drawing though, visit my Instagram page @jeanpaulbeumer, you’ll find some there.
Sending love,
JP
This is so gorgeous…love the larger then life drawings and the
intricate, mesmerizing use of negative space and texture. And the
saturation of the colors…wow! I hope you will get your creative feet
under you again soon. For now, thank you for these inspiring
drawings and the great interview.
Hello Bojoura,
Thank you so much for your kind words and insight, you are spot-on! 🙂
I too hope to get drawing again soon.
Sending love,
JP
wow. Very impressive artwork! Tell me
please, what kind of canvas (cotton, linen..)
do you use and what kind of primer?
Hello Valentina,
Thank you for having a look.
I use plain ol’ cotton and palin ol’ gesso (multiple layers).
Sending warmth, JP
Fabulous work and I love your direct
answers. Keep surviving and let that
creativity incubate, it will be there waiting. :-
)
Hiya Renay,
Thank you so much! We’ll survive somehow, we’ve done it before 😉
Stay healthy, JP
I love these works, the scale, the depth, the richness and sturdy delicacy depicted so well. Thank you for making them.
Also, as a creative whose creativity has gone into hiding during covid, I really appreciate hearing your perspective, that our creativity is being used for survival, so it isn’t as available to us right now. Oddly comforting to know I am not alone in that experience. I sneak up on myself from time to time, apparently, as I have a small handful of sketches of seedpods done over the past several months. I don’t even remember doing them. Art will out.
Hello Ker,
I hear ya. Would love to see those sketches tho!
Keep safe,
JP
My comment was much the same as yours
Ker. First, that I love your work! and second
thank you for being so frank and open. As
an artist I keep trying to make myself work
but the pandemic keeps me from doing so.
Looking at your work is very inspiring and
will definitely help. Thank you
Thank you Angela! Keep going! Sending love, JP
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