Realistic Art of Jay Greig

Carson City-based artist Jay Greig rises up in the art world winning awards and recognition for his incredible graphite pencil artworks that are more realistic than a photograph. Through his tutorials, technique guides and workshops he has helped others to develop their skills and gain a deeper appreciation and understanding of the mediums of charcoal and graphite.

Jay Greig has been drawing from a very early age and became a full-time professional artist in 2002. Since then, he has won dozens of awards in nationally acclaimed juried art shows and competitions.

In this interview, I had the privilege of getting to know more about Jay Greig through his answers to my questions. Below you can read about his motivation, what keeps him inspired, and how he overcomes any doubts or fears that arise as he draws.

Q: Who is Jay Greig?

Jay Greig: It is the name of the body I inhabit.

Q: When did you start drawing and painting?

Jay Greig: For as long as I can remember, I’ve had my colored pencils, markers, watercolors ... I remember once I painted the knobs on all the doors of my parents' house. That could be my first painting.

Q: Why the minimalism in your drawings? Do you really think that less is more?

Jay Greig: Not necessarily. I really like the cleanliness in the drawings, I prefer not to be distracted by many details, but I think that maybe because, in my daily life, for a long time I was quite messy and chaotic, although I have improved a lot (laughs).

Q: Tell us about your creative process.

Jay Greig: I am not methodical at all, in that aspect I am still a bit chaotic, wild...

Each job comes in a different way and the process is different too. Sometimes I start from a photograph that inspires me, and I complete it with the illustration, while other times, it is the other way around. I think this is much more fun.

Q: What are the techniques you use in your drawings and paintings?

Jay Greig: I usually use only pencils, but I sometimes do post-production work in Photoshop. Regarding painting, at the moment, I am working with acrylic and colored pencils.

Q: How did you manage to you bring your drawings to life by adding physical elements?

Jay Greig: Well, I can't tell you a specific day or time because I don't remember it. I think that on some occasions I included a drawing in the photograph, but not with the intention of doing it again. It was arising spontaneously and that began to connect with many people. Although I didn't invent anything either, other artists already did it before me.

Q: What feelings do you try to awaken in the public with your drawings?

Jay Greig: I honestly do not think about it, but it is true that when some people write to me to and say that I made their day happy or that they would love to give one of my drawings to someone who is having a bad time, at those moments I feel more than rewarded.

Q: What are your concerns?

Jay Greig: I am in a process of change, so my concerns are also changing. Now, I am very interested in knowing other cultures, traveling, personal relationships, love, personal knowledge, spirituality...

Q: What techniques do you apply and how do you define your style?

Jay Greig: I draw a lot by intuition. For example, if I have to build a portrait from scratch, starting from a circle, doing the divisions, that technique does not work for me. So, I draw more by practice than by technique. I draw in gray layers, first I make the layers softer and I increase the tonality and texture as I go along and my style is definitely complex, as is realism. It is what I find most challenging and I am curious, because in each drawing I always find a new challenge. by this I mean that there is a texture, a wrinkle that is not coming out, so I always find in each portrait things that lead me to other challenges - to prove myself - always.

Q: If you had to choose only one, which of your illustrations would you say is your favorite and why?

Jay Greig: I couldn't choose just one, but usually the one I like the most is the last one I've created, so in this case I'll stick with the margarita/fan.