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Jim Holyoak

Professor of drawing + illustration

Availability:

Education:

MFA, Drawing and Painting
Concordia University, 2011
BFA (Honours)
University of Victoria, 2007

Bio

Jim's practice consists of drawing, ink-painting, artists’ books, zines, comics and room-sized installations. Drawing has been the centre of his work for 25 years and continues to be a near-daily activity and essential mode of nonverbal thinking. Drawing is his way of contemplating the tensions between the real and unreal, human and nonhuman, travel and transformation, invisible and speculative worlds. Though the content ranges from the biological to the phantasmagorical, there’s an enduring interest in human challenges and capacities to fathom deep time, and to empathize across species. Jim has also orchestrated collaborative projects, sometimes involving hundreds of people drawing together.

Websites:

Research Interests

Jim Holyoak’s research interests include animals, animation, artists’ books, ambiance, audiobooks, bestiaries, book binding, books, cartoons, cats, children’s literature, Chinese ink painting, collaboration, comics, creative writing, deep time, dinosaurs, DIY, drawing, dreams, Dungeons & Dragons, dyscalculia, dyslexia, ecology, English literature, expression, extinction, forests, fog, paleontology, pollinator gardens, geology, graphic novels, habitat, history, illustration, imagination, ink, insects, islands, installation, journaling, kaiju, kid’s books, labyrinths, manga, marginalia, metamorphosis, mental health, microcosmos, monster studies, moths, mountains, murals, music, mythology, nocturnes, notation, neurodiversity, oceans, parallel and hidden worlds, philosophy, plankton, poetry, politics, Post-Humanism, postcards, prose poetry, psychology of creativity, public art, residencies, religions, snow, sketchbooks, speculative fiction, storytelling, synesthesia, travel, trolls, veganism, walking, wandering, worlding, yokai and zines. Mostly drawing.

Thesis Supervision

Accepting inquiries.

Courses

Course Name Department Course Code Term
Illustration ILUS 305 27/SP

Description

This course varies in topic from section to section, and is repeatable for 3 credits so long as the thematic topic has changed. As a diverse field that spans print, screen, objects and environments both physical and virtual, Illustration increasingly necessitates the ability to adapt. The topics and thematics offered on this course are designed to expose students to a range of unique approaches to illustration practiced within the field. Students will engage in problem solving and debate, research and experimentation. Topics and thematics have included: Allegory, Botanical Illustration, Children's Books, Concept Design, Comics, Editorial, Food, Illustrating Literature and Illustration Design, Sci-Fi, etc.

Each section of this course runs with a different topic. See here .

Pre-requisites

No prerequisites.