ARTIST TO WATCH: Sean Jones

Hey there fellow Crusaders, welcome to the start of aÂ NEW line of interviews for artists that are yet to be discovered, this new series will be entitled, Artist To Watch. I had the pleasure of speaking to a VERY talented and undiscovered artist named Sean Jones. See below and get to know Sean and check out some pieces from his portfolio and if you need an artist, hit him up!

How long have you been drawing?

I had to do some quick math here haha.Â I have been drawing for 22 years, ever since I was 12 years old!

What was your inspiration behind becoming an artist?

Far and away it had to be the advent of Image Comics coming into existence and making people take notice of creator owned titles.Â Here you had these great artist and creators who just knew they could put something of their own togetherÂ and BOOM! They did it!Â The art style and medium was really becoming more dynamic back then and it was a huge inspiration to read titles like Cyberforce, Velocity, Spawn, and Backlash.Â Then came in Michael Turner and I was just absolutely blown away.Â It was amazing to hear his story as an artist and to see his fluid style across Witchblade, Fathom, and later, Soulfire.Â Like I said before I was drawing at age twelve and my dream even then was to get involved with comic art in one form or another!

What do you do as a day job?

By day I am a designer for pull tabs artwork and a freelance illustrator and graphic designer.

What’s your background in?

I graduated from the University of Alaska Anchorage with a Bachelor’s Degree in Drawing and a second emphasis in Graphic Design.

What, if any, industry experience do you have?

I have worked in a multitude of industries and had the good fortune to work on CBS licensed games (Star Trek) and in the paintball industry where I designed print artwork and apparel including the Virtue VIo Extend, a premium paintball mask that retails and is used worldwide.

What’s your artistic process?

Having a traditional degree in drawing I try to stick to the fundamentals.Â I think Joe Kubert said that you always have to come back to the well in terms of refreshing your skill set.Â A lot of reference and research goes into a project before I start really lining things out.Â I am still working on the sequential, pacing and backgrounds being such a challenge to get just right.

Each piece for me starts with a rough sketch or a thumbnail done either on paper or digitally, it really just depends on what I have handy at the moment. After I am happy with the sketch I will lay it out on a board if I am working traditionally or I will blow up the thumbnail if I am working digitally.Â Then I start laying in more detailed lines and work those in until I am happy.Â Once the pencil sketch it tightened up i go through and clean up my lines a bit, I have to admit I like them to have some texture so I try not to go overboard with that.

If I’m inking I usually do that digitally, I don’t profess to have inking as my strong suit but there is something about getting those sketch lines down in BLACK that really just sets a piece off.Â From their if I color it I am using my computer usually using the “cuts” method (though I have played around with digital painting as well).

Any work in comics?

I have worked on some indie titles with friends and such over the years.Â Omug’s “The Culling” (some help lettering and coloring their 2nd issue) and also a short one shot called the Volunteer Written by Jeff Lawler and edited by Chase Magnett. Recently Top Cow officially approved the Witchblade artwork which has been a real feather in my cap.Â My first love has always been telling stories, and now that i have a stable career in art I am setting my sights on the Comic Book industry.

Do you have any ideas on your own characters?

Several!Â Its hard to share them though until they are published.Â I really like sci fi characters so my stories tend to go in that direction. I am working on a pitch with a writer right now but he says he’ll send the legbreakers out to get me if I share.

Who is your ideal/favorite character to draw?

If it’s someone else’s characters I love doing Sarah Pezzini and really am digging drawing the Generation IX characters from the Top Cow continuity.Â I’ve been itching to do some Xmen lately though so if I get the time I think that’s a direction I’d love to head in.

How can you be contacted?

Feel free to drop me a line atÂ shade23@hotmail.comÂ or you can hit me up on twitter @tfdpaintball!

Check outÂ some of Sean’s work from his portfolio:

Author Profile

Al Mega

I'm Al Mega the CEO of Comic Crusaders, CEO of the Undercover Capes Podcast Network, CEO of Geekery Magazine & Owner of Splintered Press (coming soon). I'm a fan of comics, cartoons and old school video games. Make sure to check out our podcasts/vidcasts and more!