Dennis Jones
eclectic artwork & other random things
Little Felt Guys
It was Saturday afternoon and I was wandering aimlessly through a fabric store waiting PATIENTLY for my wife to look at EVERY SINGLE DRESS PATTERN IN THE STORE and I stumbled onto (literally) a clearance bin with really cheap felt in it and the next thing I know it’s Sunday afternoon, Karen is sitting at her sewing machine making dresses and I’m sitting in an easy chair turning my bargain felt purchase into these little things.
Painting Ms. Dorothy
I was working on a “LIZARD OF OZ” job and whenever there is high concept involved I have to do a LOT of fast, throwaway sketches to figure things out. Most of these quick ideas never see the light of day… but there was something about that little gecko in the ruby red slippers. Sadly, she did not make the final cut for the illustration, but she kept looking at me with those great big lizard eyes and I just could not toss her into the trash can with everyone else… so I gave her a coat of paint and deposited her right outside of Emerald City.
I recorded my digital painting process and you can see it in the video below.
Thanks again to my youngest son for letting me use his original music for this video… even though he was not aware that he was letting me use his original music for this video. And if you would be ever so kind Pete, could you please send me some more of your original music so I can use it without your permission in future videos?
Elijah Gets A Makeover
I recently received an email from a pastor asking me to upload an old piece of artwork onto my ImageKind shop so he could order a print of it and I said sure, no problem… but when I finally found the twenty year old gouache painting hidden in the corner of my studio I felt like it could use a little digital makeover, so here are a few before and after shots of what I did to it.
Limited Availability
While the general public is not able (at this time) to get the new comic books, rumor has it there are copies floating about… but you kinda have to drive to Falls Creek, Oklahoma to acquire one.
Frogtographer
Summer has arrived and I’ve somehow been moved out of my nice, air conditioned studio and into the bug infested, hot outdoors to battle carpenter bees, mow the yard, trim the trees, haul mulch around, dig holes in the ground, plant stuff, seal the deck, paint the front porch, refinish rocking chairs…
…so far, not exactly the summertime of fun and leisure that I had envisioned during the winter.
Top Secret New Project!
I just met with a talented group of creatives in their Arkansas studios and I’m excited to announce that we’ve come up with a brand new comic book project! It’s top secret, but I’ve been given permission to share some of the notes from our meeting.
We have a superhero named Charlie, a sidekick robot named 10-Boy, a bad guy named the Globber and two squirrels named Squeak and Squawk. The squirrels are indecisive and don’t know which team to root for. They tell me the roads of Arkansas are paved with double-minded squirrels.
For some reason the junior executive at the meeting nicknamed me Uncle Dentist. I’m thinking that was an effort on his part to make me feel at home and keep the brainstorming session loose and creative.
2017 NBA Finals
The NBA Finals have arrived and its time for me to start paying attention to basketball again. Are the Timberwolves still in it?
Fire Up The Press
Press sheets are running and sherpas are being examined. Todd and I are doing advanced publicity and within a month actual comic books should be in our hands!
TIE GRRRRRR!
Please tell me it’s almost time for college football to start.
Coin Flip
I threw a little color onto a referee that was in my sketchbook.
How I Draw Hands
I received an email this morning from Doug down in South Africa. He asked if I could give him a lesson on how to construct “Dennis Jones” hands. That reminded me of a job I did a few years ago. I was designing characters to be animated and I whipped out this quick style guide for the guys in California. This is pretty much everything that goes into my limited thought process when it comes to creating hands.
Behind The Scenes
A look behind the curtain as Todd and I put a comic book together.
Dennis: Hey Todd, how ’bout something like this for the cover on the first comic.
Todd: Looks good, let’s do it.
(a couple of days later)
Dennis: Ok Todd, the covers are done. Here’s the back cover.
Todd: Cool… I thought we decided to wrap the artwork around and onto the back of the comic?
Dennis: AARRGGHHHHH!
(a couple of days later)
The Few Comic
Almost to the finish line with the first three…
Church Notes
I am a diligent Sunday sermon note taker and I keep them carefully archived in the back seat floorboard of my car… right next to my emergency cans of Kroger butter toffee peanuts.
Art Show
There’s a pretty weird art show taking place in Fort Wayne, Indiana…
BIBLICAL PORTFOLIO
EPIC FANTASY PORTFOLIO
FANTASY ANIMAL PORTFOLIO
VEHICLES PORTFOLIO
SPORTS PORTFOLIO
HISTORICAL PORTFOLIO
RANDOM PORTFOLIO
CREATURES PORTFOLIO
Dennis Jones 