Dennis Jones

Salvation Army Band

Posted on May 29, 2015 by Dennis

I’ve been extremely busy for the last several months, so not a lot of posts happening on the old blog. One of my jobs was drawing an old time Salvation Army Band… for the Salvation Army of all people… in Canada – ay! Big fun!

Summer Grilling

Posted on May 19, 2015 by Dennis

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Another snippet from the book I’ve been illustrating. I finished the art, sent everything in to the publisher and the book is due to be printed and available sometime this fall.

Death And Taxes

Posted on May 14, 2015 by Dennis

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Benjamin Franklin said that in this world there is nothing certain except death and taxes, but I would add one more thing to that… death, taxes AND the palms of your hockey gloves rotting out. It will always happen and when it does there’s not a lot you can do except buy new gloves.

My summer hockey season has started (I don’t usually play summer hockey, but when I do, I try to make sure it’s in the summer) and while checking my equipment before game time, sure enough, I discovered the palms of my gloves were all but gone.

There is another old saying… necessity is the mother of invention… and it just so happens that I ran over a pair of leather work gloves with my riding mower (it’s been an eventful week for me) so in a desperate attempt NOT to buy new hockey gloves, I grabbed a needle and thread and re-palmed my hockey gloves with the chewed up work glove.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

…And Another Little Look

Posted on April 27, 2015 by Dennis

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The new book I am currently illustrating has a little bit of everything in it. Here’s another snippet showing concept, rough and finished art.

Another Look At The Book

Posted on April 21, 2015 by Dennis

A New Book In The Works

Posted on April 17, 2015 by Dennis

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I’m currently illustrating a new book. The publisher has graciously agreed to allow me to share a few snippets of it, so here’s a small glimpse. The book is scheduled for release in the fall and once we are past the confidentiality stage of this process, I will be able to disclose more information about it.

Unwittingly A Champion

Posted on April 13, 2015 by Dennis

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My hockey season was drawing to a close. Two weeks ago, our game was delayed because someone skated over a goalies wrist in the game before ours. The paramedics got him stabilized and carted off (sobering) they got the ice cleaned up (also sobering) and we finally played our game… AND WON. “That figures” I thought. “Why can’t we play this way when it really counts?” The season was over and now it was time for our playoffs to begin.

Yesterday after a two week break (no hockey scheduled last weekend because of Easter) I jumped in the car and headed for the ice rink, eager to play in our first game of the playoffs.

We won the game and everyone on my team got really excited. After shaking hands with the other team, my teammates threw their equipment all over the ice and crowded around our goal. I was excited too, because I thought we got to advance in the playoffs and play again next week. Then the guy in charge of the league walked out onto the ice with a gigantic trophy, handed it to our goalie and people started taking pictures of us. Apparently, we had started the playoffs weeks before and unbeknownst to me, our team had just won the championship game for our division… huh? …I mean, yea!!

Everyone on the team also got a cool little portable speaker. My only regret was that we did not receive them until we were exiting the building… because I sure would’ve enjoyed lifting my championship mini portable speaker over my head and skating it triumphantly around the hockey rink just like they do with the Stanley Cup.

Vintage Leather Aviator Cap

Posted on March 31, 2015 by Dennis

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I think maybe the only thing cooler looking than a World War 2 Tank Helmet is a vintage leather aviator cap. I was recently asked to make a guest appearance in a fellow artist’s “how to” drawing book and was asked to contribute a couple of tips and a few pictures for it. Given total freedom to create whatever I wanted, this character magically appeared beneath my pencil and became my “how to” submission…

…and oddly enough, he coincidentally seems to be wearing a vintage leather aviator cap.

Little Red-Haired Girl

Posted on March 24, 2015 by Dennis

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I was doing character development this afternoon and one of the things I drew was this little red-haired girl. It reminded me of the old Peanuts comic strip and Charlie Brown who, if memory serves me, was quite enamored with little red-haired girls.

Overly Optimistic

Posted on March 23, 2015 by Dennis

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For several days last week, the sun made a rare appearance at our house. I decided winter was officially over and proceeded to take down my snow fence and store it for summer. As I look out my front door today, I think I might have been just a tad bit, overly optimistic about the end of snow season…

Turn Based Strategy Games

Posted on March 19, 2015 by Dennis

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When I have time to kill, I will occasionally fire up the iPad and play a game or two… and my favorite kind are turn based strategy. The developers of the game I am playing right now ( HeavenStrike Rivals ) are currently running a promotion and awarding game bonus to anyone who submits fan art of one of their characters… and apparently, I’m not above doing that if it will help me in some way to win a game.

~ UPDATE ~

When I was rendering this guy, I went for a dark, grunge look, but afterwards did not think it was quite the right fit, so I knocked out a cleaner version which is posted below.

Vikings

Posted on March 17, 2015 by Dennis

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It has been a long, Nordic winter here in northeastern Indiana… but the sun is out today and it gives me hope that snow season is almost over. One last viking made an appearance on my drawing board on his way out of town.

Blue Erasable Pencils

Posted on March 12, 2015 by Dennis

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I almost always start figuring my pictures out with a blue erasable pencil, specifically the Prismacolor Col-Erase 20044. I cannot explain why, but starting with the blue pencil somehow magically makes drawing much easier… well… for me anyway.