Bob Jones
pen & ink
Bob Jones
was our fascinating speaker on Sun, Sept 11
"Pen & Ink... to Extremes!"
Following are notes on his presentation...
Bob Jones grew up in Old Hickory, TN, and graduated from DuPont High School. Then he attended Harris School of Art in Nashville. He spent 25 years as Art Director for Sun Records, the major label for Nashville's country music greats. Then went on to establish a career as an illustrator with Thomas Nelson Publishing. He retired in 2008 to pursue his love of pen & ink artwork full time.
Each of his artwork pieces begins with a highly-detailed pencil drawing, working from a photo. Then he begins with black ink (which is really never totally black) using a Rotring pen from Dick Blick. His distinct style is accomplished by the layering of an enormous number of minute pen strokes, some of which are cross-hatches or even dots. For solid black backgrounds he sometimes employs black paint. But he never uses white paint or white ink. All whites in his artwork are the paper.
Asked how he knows when a piece is finished, he said "when it satisfies me." Occasionally he will dislike his finished product so much that he will start again and completely do a new one.
He especially likes to do faces… considering the nose hardest to draw, so he does it first. Then the ears. Eyes and mouth last. His favorite subjects are Native Americans from the Library of congress, country & blues performers, classic movie stars, and homeless people. Some of the pieces he brought to show us included Miles Davis, Robert Mitchum, Jack Elam, and Waylon Jennings.
He lives in Spring Hill and maintains a studio at Old Natchez House in Leiper's Fork, south of Franklin. He also has a studio in his home and admits to being a terrible pack rat, owning every art book and magazine ever published.
He is currently working on twelve projects. He switches off between them. He admits he does not do pen & ink for the money, but apparently he does get paid handsomely for his artwork.
He invited us to come and visit his studio in Leiper's Fork…
Old Natchez House circa 1892
4158 Old Hillsboro Road
Franklin, TN 37064
615-491-3668
Hours: Wed – Sat. 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Sun. 1-5 p.m.
Mon. & Tues. By Appt.
