“How much more of a portrait is it, if they leave a part of themselves on the canvas?” he asks.

After leaving school James acquired the position as resident artist at a large advertising agency in Whitechapel where he learnt new commercial techniques. After only a year he attended Chelsea School of Art where he concentrated on the human figure. To support himself James took on freelance work from a number of London art studios.
James changed career entirely for the next ten years choosing a successful career in the city. It was while heading a bond-trading desk at Deutsche Bank that he was offered a 3 month exhibition in London’s Leicester Square. The opening night saw a record number of sales and a celebrity and city-laden party.