Jón Axel Egilsson (1944) is a filmmaker who graduated from the National Film School of Denmark in 1979. He was born and raised in the oldest district of Reykjavík where he was always drawing. He was therefore sent to the children‘s classes of the Icelandic College of Art and Crafts (ICAC). Later in high school, he attended tuition with Kurt Zier, the principal of ICAC, and also with Benedikt Gunnarsson.

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Jón Axel created  a well-known cartoon figure called Klói the cocoamilk cat, producing 9 TV adverts with him. He also made a series of 14 short documentaries about Icelandic visual artists as well as a longer documentary about the artist Birgir Andrésson: The next half hour will take 45 minutes.

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Jón Axel was financial manager of IAA from 1989 to 1991 when he met the watercolour artist and teacher Gunnlaugur St. Gíslason who asked him whether he only drew advertisement cartoons. Jón told Gunnlaugur that he planned to take up watercolours when he retired. Gunnlaugur replied that he might as well start now then since it takes 20 years to become a good watercolourist. This exchange resulted in Jón Axel commencing his studies with Gunnlaugur in 1998 and he continued them until 2006. At this stage Jón Axel commenced his university studies in folklore and art history.