Sit Down With Our #090 Featured Artist

Jedidiah Dore

Featured Artist / #118 ScrawlrBox 

Jedidiah Dore is an NYC Artist and Part time Faculty of Illustration at Parsons New School. He specializes in reportage art, mural painting and drawing. Dore was recently commissioned to live paint a large-scale mural at JFK International Airport, NYC Reportage Murals Project at the landmark Daily News Building in Manhattan, where he completed 17 murals.

He has created art for an exhibition with NASA James Webb Space Telescope, documented the Artemis 1 Mission - Launch at Kennedy Space Center, and has recently exhibited a collection of paintings at the Louisiana Art & Science Museum.

After moving to NYC to study painting and illustration at Pratt Institute, and inspired by his love for science and space exploration, he began an ongoing project called Stellar Science Series with many initial ideas and concepts sketched on site. The on going project has taken him on great adventures to places such as Mars Yard for Curiosity Rover, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Deep Space Network, Johnson Space Center, Kennedy Space Center, and opportunities to create space art for Jacob Technologies, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, and exhibit art for NASA at Goddard Space Flight Center.

Jedidiah and his work have been featured in various publications including VoyageHouston’s “Thought Provokers Series,” British GQ, and PBS, ALL Arts, Artnet, and in various books and publications worldwide.

We really admire your style of work, how do you approach capturing the dynamic energy of urban environments in your sketches?

I suppose, personally, in relating very much to that adage, it takes one to know one, and with that because I’m pretty energetic, I seek out and naturally gravitate to stories and occasions with a lot of energy and liveliness to it. Also, knowing the story, going after that point of focus, and making room for a lot of spontaneity will greatly affect how dynamic the art will become.

How has your artistic style or focus evolved over the years?

I share this idea with my students often, which is that every drawing is an opportunity to grow, to evolve, and attempt new methods. It’s not unlike learning new languages, only in this sense we are growing in our approach towards a cohesive visual language. This I believe, is how my art has grown. I feel that I am able to communicate in a multifaceted way now, and my work has become more natural, tactile, and has allowed me to focus on the idea itself by way of working towards that with drawing and designing to discover a solution.

Could you walk us through your creative process, from conceptualization to completion?

I love research, I love reading and challenges, so I think those things are often part of the equation at the beginning of art projects, whether they are mural designs, art installations, illustrations or art commissions, I often will begin with absorbing as much as I can about the subject before I start drawing. Thumbnailing and sketching quite a bit is the guts of what the process is for me. I like to work towards answering the challenge on the board, getting as much sketching as I can to attain that flow or ‘zen’ sort of mindset when the drawings become automatic. The creative process is my favorite part of being an artist, which helps a great deal.

Can you share how your early life near NASA Ames in California influenced your initial interest in art and space exploration?

Growing up there inspired me greatly. My first heroes were aviators and astronauts. I aspired to be an Astronaut and fighter pilot when I was a kid, and going through high school, I was quite serious about this being my career path, until I was introduced to art and illustration. I am happy to be an artist who is very much inspired by science and space today. Also, beyond the really awesome spacecraft and missions, there is my sense of wonder about exploration and creating new paths, which always encouraged that sense of curiosity.

Your collaboration with organizations like NASA Goddard for the JWST exhibition is intriguing. How did this partnership come about, and what was your experience working on it?

I was grateful to have been invited to create art on site at NASA Goddard while the JWST was being built and assembled, and I gladly said yes! It was such a dream come true because the project combined two things that mean so much to me. Science and Art. Getting to meet scientists and engineers who worked on the JWST mission was incredible and I especially liked that they were able to see in real time my art process on location, documenting the assembly.

You describe “reportage illustration” as a way to experience life and meet new people while drawing. How does this philosophy influence your work and interactions?

I firmly believe that the most interesting and historical places are nothing without the people and local cultures that create the stories within them. Being on site means that I have opportunities to meet people and also learn what their thoughts and experiences are in relation to what I’m documenting. Something that is a key factor in the what, how, and why I draw, and that just can’t happen in the studio. I’m interested in expressing what a place feels like, the soul, and the character of the people as well.