Around almost every corner of our city is a surprise. Recently we found Jordan Spilman’s work. Focusing on pets and people, Jordan has chosen pen and ink as his medium for these stunning portraits.
As a child, Jordan’s pet was a parakeet, (family allergies prevented four-footed friends). No ordinary bird, Sonny did his best to entertain the little boy by taking a rides on Jordan’s toy train set as the only passenger.
Jordan’s relationship with Sonny seeded the beginning of a lifelong love of animals. Because no dogs or cats could be in the house Jordan became fascinated with friend’s and neighbor’s dogs and cats and loved spending time with them.
Jordan now lives in Astoria with his wife Katie. He works professionally as a Scenic Artist for television and film around the city.
His distinctive pen and ink portraits have become essential collectibles for animal lovers both here and in the UK.
Jordan’s father, Neil Spilman, is a well-respected and established artist in the north of England. Along with being a highly talented landscape painter, Neil is also famous for his pastel animal portraits . He was a big inspiration to Jordan growing up along with a large number of famous artists and illustrators such as Winsor McCay, Bill Watterson and Joseph Pennel.
Jordan works from photographs of pets so ordering a commission can be done on line. You can reach him here, [email protected].