Jerome Stueart

My artwork centers around realistic and fantastic depictions of larger, hairy men (usually gay, known as "bears") and mythological themes, animals, and adventure. I often take reference photos as the accidental body double for Yukon (it's tough to get models for as many paintings as I produce, so here I am!)---but no, those bodies aren't exactly what my body looks like, but i get that question a lot. I collect other reference photos of different things in the paintings to work from too. Then I compose the paintings--usually in a sketchbook with pencil, getting the right composition, and depending on the medium, I redraw the draft onto the paper or canvas by hand. Sometimes in my smaller work, I ink before I paint, and sometimes I paint before I ink. This gives the watercolor work two very different styles--one that is more paintery-- and one that is more comic/graphic novel-ish. The watercolors take me a couple of hours, but the large acrylics take me a week at least. I use monsters to talk about some queer issues, and also, hey, I like monsters. I also like making people happy when they see my work, and I also know that some folks feel represented in the larger bodied characters, or queer themes I paint. Larger bodied people can be heroes too. Sometimes, after I do a painting, I tell a story to go with it. In everything I do, I hope to create Joy for the viewer. I'm certainly enjoying painting.