Ian Johnson is a self–professed agoraphobe and portrait painter living in San Francisco, whose work features predominantly 1950’s and 1960’s jazz musicians like Miles Davis, Dexter Gordon, Bill Evans and Charlie Parker, to name a few. Intentionally or not, the subjects he chooses often had difficult lives in spite of their talents. When his subjects are creating music, the entire piece is full of energy, yet in many of his pieces a sense of solitude remains. Working as art director for Western Edition Skateboard Company, it isn’t surprising that many of his jazz portraits end up on skateboard decks. This makes sense as both jazz and skateboarding are rooted in movement and improvisation.

Here is Johnson’s stance on painting modern day musicians…

“I don’t really like that many new musicians. What they’re doing is not that exciting to me as something you hear from the ‘50s when people were breaking new ground. There was a kind of energy back then that isn’t in jazz now, even though they try to do the same thing. They’re just rehashing shit. Plus, they just don’t look as cool. People don’t dress good anymore. Their faces just look hollow to me. So many of them back in the day, maybe it was the heroin, but they had really cut features and really angular faces and I like drawing that kind of stuff. They all had their preppy style. I like drawing people in suits and ties. Eventually I’d like to do some more modern people, but I’m not in a rush.”

Matt Petty shot this cool little video and interview of Johnson during one of his solo shows in the Bay Area.

See more of Ian Johnson’s work at www.ianmjohnson.com