Jules Webster
Owner + Founder of The Art Supply Depo
American Landscape Painter, born 1983.
About the Work:
Like every landscape painter in history, I was for a time "chasing light" by using mixed color to create the illusion of luminosity. More recent breakthroughs have allowed me to capture light through multiple glaze layers that will optically change the appearance of a painting depending on the amount of light in a room and the color temperature of that light, especially natural vs. artificial, and the angle of how the work is viewed. I no longer chase light, I study how to manipulate light through material. The shifting light in the work creates the illusion of the passage of time in the landscape.
In my current studio practice I oscillate back and forth between landscape representation and abstraction, tight and loose landscape renderings in both oil and acrylic. I enjoy painting calculated imagery in tight glaze layers on canvas and panel. I also love abstracting the landscape using thick cold wax, R&F Pigment Stick, Colored Pencil, Oil Pastel and Williamsburg + Gamblin tube paint on an Arches Oil Paper substrate. Both styles of painting are based in material exploration.
As the founder of two niche art materials stores, I have the unique perspective of understanding the practical applications of thousands of art materials, and the variations of products available by manufacturer. I am now using that knowledge to design material experiments to understand more thoroughly the optics of light, color, color perception, and how to manipulate the physical properties of various substrates, color formulations, and paint materials to achieve highly unusual, shifting lighting scenarios on a two dimensional surface.
The images below represent a portion of my Acrylic explorations from 2020 - 2023.
Most of my acrylic work from 2021 - 2022 will drastically color-shift in varied lighting conditions such as indoor vs. outdoor light and with different color temperatures of interior lightbulbs. Some objects in the work will seem to appear or disappear, and some work will create an illusion of the sun rising or setting with the landscape if a dimmer switch is used to adjust light.
The images below represent a portion of my Cold Wax, Oil, + R&F Pigment Stick exploration from 2019 - 2022.
The images below represent a portion of my early acrylic glazing, iridescent, + interference works from 2017 - 2019 which sparked my long-term curiosity to try to harness the optical capabilities of light passing through acrylic materials.
Schedule dependent, I am able to host private or group workshops + lectures on site or off site for teens - adults in the following topics:
Surface Decoration for Ceramics: Beginning to Advanced Underglaze Painting Techniques
Mixed Media: How to Layer Drawing + Painting Mediums
Acrylic Mixed Media: Understanding the Viscosities of Different Paints + Mediums
Oil Mixed Media: Combining R&F Pigment Stick, Oil Paint + Gamblin Cold Wax
Variations on Acrylic Substrate Preparation
Variations on Oil Substrate Preparation
Brush Selection: How Brushes are Different, and What they are Capable of
Glazing Techniques in Oil or Acrylic
Color Theory: Understanding Mineral + Modern Pigments, How to Select Colors to Achieve Desired Results
Please allow 3 or more for scheduling. Lectures + workshops can be tailored to include hands on components and vary depending on time allotted and prior participant art material knowledge. Number of persons that can be accommodated for workshops vary by venue and topic. For more information or to schedule, please contact me through this form.
Press:
January 9, 2019 / Enjoying Toledo / Winter Hiatus
March 31, 2010 / The Toledo City Paper / Shiny, Gloomy Ceramics
November 3, 2010 / Toledo Free Press Star / Relative Value : Market Size Impacts Advertizing
January 19, 2011 / Toledo Free Press Star / Schedule C For Artists Made Simple
April 6, 2011 / Toledo Free Press Star / Urban Activist Roundtable Discussion
November 6, 2013 / Toledo City Paper / The Business of Creating and Cultivating Art
September 10, 2014 / Toledo City Paper / Focus on The Arts / Jules Webster
June 15, 2015 / Toledo City Paper / Exploring the Creative Landscape
May 1, 2016 / Urban Innovation Exchange / Jules Webster
February 13, 2017 / Nick Corbin Productions / Toledo, Ohio Documentary: Reclaiming Spaces
September 11, 2017 / Buckeye Cable Arts Media / The Art Supply Depo
Summer 2017 / Art Materials Retailer / Double Duty
March 19, 2019 / Toledo City Paper Podcast / Talking Shop with The Art Supply Depo’s Jules Webster + Stephen Owczarzak
University of Toledo / Department of Art / A Few of Our Outstanding Alumni