Junior Al Ward is a dreamer. From superhero comics to fine art, passion and creativity shines through his work. This month, he’s Theogony’s third featured artist.
Q: What art classes at ACHS do you currently take?
A: Right now I’m in Art III.
Q: How long have you taken art class in school?
A: I’ve been taking it since middle school. I mean, you do it in elementary, but it’s not like you have a choice. I’ve always been interested in drawing and painting, I think everybody kind of is. The one thing people have in common is the want to create.
Q: What type of mediums do you use in your art?
A: I use acrylic because it’s cheap. I use pencil because I can erase and it’s also cheap. I think oil would be cool to use, but I haven’t. I like using Rozalia’s prismacolors, but they’re expensive. I’ve got to bum off of them.
Q: What do you like to draw?
A: I like to draw things around me. I have drawn flowers, the ocean, I love the ocean. I love my dog, I draw my dog a lot too.
Q: What inspires your art?
A: Well, lots of things. I love comics. I’ve probably started reading comics in fifth grade, started with Wonder Woman, and then got into Batman. I love Constantine too, and really just all things magic and sorcery in comics. There are so many traditions to pull from with that, you can go really deep. It doesn’t have to just be people in unitards fighting.
Q: Is there any kind of message you’re trying to convey?
A: I mean, I can assign all this meaning to it. But, you know, I’m not gonna pretend like I have some grandiose plan that this is gonna expose society. I’m not some Banksy figure talking about how deep everything is and blah blah blah blah.
Q: Has your approach to art changed over the years?
A: I think I go through different types of styles. I think I find new things I like to focus on. At the moment, I’ve been focused on human connection and the intimate aspects of people’s lives.
Q: What inspired this focus?
A: The impressionists. One of my favorite paintings is Olympia by Édouard Manet. I like it. I mean, it’s a painting of a prostitute. I like that they would just paint what people would do. I know now it seems like everybody does that, but at the time it was a revolutionary idea. For a long time everybody wanted to paint religious stuff, everybody wanted to paint pictures of old people in their regal attire. But there are things that everybody does, but nobody painted. Why not just paint it?
For years there have been paintings like The Birth of Venus by Cabanel, where she’s rising out of the water, and it’s seen as beautiful. So, why are some things seen as beautiful and why are some not? Compare The Birth of Venus to Olympia, which caused so much controversy just because the name of it was a prostitute’s name. It’s interesting what can make something go from like fine art to something people are repulsed by.
Q: What have you learned through creating this series?
A: It’s taught me a lot about how to draw skin and how to capture lighting.
Q: The impressionists are a bit of an older art movement. How do you feel about contemporary art?
A: Stuff that’s like newer can be nice too. A lot of people dislike modern art and stuff, but then they look back and love the impressionists, who were hated when they were new. People hated Cabanel when he did his painting of The Fallen Angel, but now it’s beloved.
It’s always, ‘how dare you paint Satan like this? How dare you paint a prostitute? How dare you paint people at the ballet? How dare you sculpt a girl that looks like a rat?’ People have always hated what breaks the mold.
I don’t get a lot of modern art. But why be against progress? And why be mad at someone who’s making their money? You can do it too, just pick up a pen.
Q: Have you always been interested in art history?
A: I got into it pretty recently. My Mom and I both like to watch art documentaries. Through that I realized art history is pretty interesting.
For example, in a lot of older art, there can be so many biblical references in just one painting. Everything had some kind of symbolism to it because a painting was more than just a painting. It was supposed to convey something. You would put it in the church and that would be something the community prayed to and looked up to. It’s just so cool that art can be representative of certain time periods.
Q: You’ve mentioned a lot of artists throughout this interview. If you could name a few off the top of your head, who are your biggest inspirations?
A: Definitely a lot of the impressionists, so I’d say Monet, Manet, Renoir. I like CabaneI. I like a lot of medieval paintings, but I don’t know their artists’ names. Recently I’ve really liked Andy Warhol, though less his visual art and more his movies. They’re very funny. Very provocative. I’m also kind of inspired by this artist Rozalia Finkelstein, a little bit. Ziona Miller too.
**Gallery** Master Studies
Q: Is there any advice you would give to other artists?
A: When your teacher tells you that we’re gonna work on perspective or we’re gonna work on colors or something, actually do it. You may think that you’re some great artist, but you can always improve.
Q: Would you ever be interested in pursuing art professionally, or is it just a hobby?
A: Just a hobby. I I don’t think I could do it for my job. It’d get too boring. And I don’t think anybody would want to hire me. Maybe if we lived in the 1500s, and some dutchess wanted to be my patron, I’d be like, oh, yes ma’am. And then we’d have an affair or something.
Q: Do you have anywhere we can find or support you?
A: You can find me in C211. I like Reese’s Take5 and I like cash. I also take Apple Pay. You can find me on my Instagram, which I won’t tell you, and you can find me plenty of other places.
Q: Is there anything else you’d like to say?
A: I love you Cassandra Peterson.
Dr Henry • Mar 5, 2025 at 6:09 pm
Cassandra Peterson…as in Elvira Mistress of the Dark? Legend. I adore her.