"This day's experience, set in order, none of it left ragged or lying about, all of it gathered in like treasure and finished with, set aside." –Alice Munro, "What is Remembered"
I purchased the following Andre Norton paperbacks with covers by Jeffrey Jones on Monday from a small shop in Yorkton, Saskatchewan. I found the shop totally by accident. My wife, our son, and I were en route to Dauphin, Manitoba, but since we were ahead of schedule and had some time to kill before lunch in Yorkton, we decided to drive around a bit and see what stores were open in the downtown area. We went up and down a couple of streets, and then we noticed a shop called “Thrifty Mama’s” that had a display of books in the window. Being a trio of bibliophiles, we couldn’t resist checking it out — and discovered that at least half of the floorspace in “Thrifty Mama’s” is dedicated to used books, mostly paperbacks. Score!
Now, I know I’ve posted the cover of Uncharted Stars before, but the book this time around is in much better condition. In fact, all four are really glossy and tight. And they all sport excellent Jones covers. Enjoy!
BONUS IMAGE (added 04 October 2013):
A more recent acquisition:
Keywords:Postmarked to the Stars, Sea Siege, Uncharted Stars, Sargasso of Space.
The cover of The Three Faces of Time, which I bought yesterday at a used book store in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, is uncredited, and no signature is visible, but it sure looks like the work of Jeffrey Jones, circa 1968-69, to me.
ABOVE: Jack Williamson, Seetee Shock (New York: Lancer, 1968), with cover by Jeffrey Jones.
ABOVE: Frank Belknap Long, The Three Faces of Time (New York: Tower, 1969), with cover by Jeffrey Jones.
UPDATE (24 July 2010):
This just in: reader Patrick Hill points out in the comments section of this post that Jones informed him ten years ago that he (Jones) swiped the pose of the main figure in Seetee Shock and The Three Faces of Time from “H2O World,” with story by Larry Ivie and art by Al Williamson and Roy Krenkel. Here’s the ocular proof:
ABOVE: Al Williamson and Roy Krenkel (artists), first page complete, "H2O World," Creepy #1 (1964), page 10.
ABOVE: Al Williamson and Roy Krenkel (artists), first page detail, "H2O World," Creepy #1 (1964), page 10.
If nothing else, the above news should make Maroto fans smile.
The numbers and dates of these covers by Jeffrey Jones are included in the file names. They’re displayed here in order of publication, earliest first, latest last, 1969 to 1980.
Human figures dwarfed by the universe, blue/green-and-gold/orange colour schemes… I wonder… is Jeffrey Jones edging into Paul Lehr territory in the following covers? I think so!
ABOVE: Jack Williamson, Seetee Ship (New York: Lancer Books, 1968), with cover by Jeffrey Jones.
ABOVE: Christopher Anvil, Strangers in Paradise (New York: Tower Publications, 1969), with cover by Jeffrey Jones.
Click here to view all of the covers by Jeffrey Jones that I’ve posted so far.
The original reproduction on many of the following covers by Jeffrey Jones, all from the library of yours truly, was very poor, so my scans are sometimes not the best here. One exception is the last cover, Twilight of the Serpent, which actually showcases Jones’s artwork in more detail and with more lively colour than does the rather dour reproduction on the back cover of publisher Underwood-Miller’s lavish hardcover, The Art of Jeffrey Jones.
ABOVE: Robert Silverberg, ed., Earthmen & Strangers (New York: Dell, 1968), with cover by Jeffrey Jones.
ABOVE: A. E. Van Vogt, The Book of Ptath (New York: Paperback Library, 1968), with cover by Jeffrey Jones.
ABOVE: Samuel R. Delany, The Jewels of Aptor (New York: Ace, 1968), with cover by Jeffrey Jones.
ABOVE: L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt, The Incomplete Enchanter (New York: Pyramid, 1968), with cover by Jeffrey Jones.
ABOVE: Peter Saxon, The Curse of Rathlaw (New York: Prestige Books, 1968), with cover by Jeffrey Jones.
ABOVE: Richard Meade, The Sword of Morning Star (New York: Signet, 1969), with cover by Jeffrey Jones.
ABOVE: Frank Brunner, Bedlam Planet (New York: Ace, n.d.), with cover by Jeffrey Jones.
ABOVE: Peter Valentine Timlett, Twilight of the Serpent (New York: Bantam Books, 1977), with cover by Jeffrey Jones.
My favourites this time around are the covers for The Curse of Rathlaw (1968), an early effort in which Jones’s attractive design for the vignette is nicely reinforced by the typography, and Twilight of the Serpent (1977), a later cover which displays Jones’s hard-won skills as a draftsman (or draughtsman, if you prefer), mastery of lost-and-found edges in oil painting, and increasing willingness in the 1970s and early 1980s to produce images that went against the grain of traditional heroic fantasy.
Keywords:Earthmen and Strangers, Kothar of the Magic Sword, The Book of Ptath, The Jewels of Aptor, Seetee Shock, The Incomplete Enchanter, The Curse of Rathlaw, The Sword of Morning Star, Bedlam Planet, Twilight of the Serpent.
Jones’s Scheherazade graced the cover of the Styx #2 back in 1973 (37 years ago!):
Styx was published by Winnipeg’s own Joseph Krolik, who was very active in fandom beginning in the mid-to-late 1960s, when he and a buddy, Andris Taskans, both in high school at the time, started a club called “The Science Fiction Fans & Comic Collectors of Winnipeg” and published a “clubzine” called Universe that ran for seven issues.
ABOVE: Ted White, The Spawn of the Death Machine (New York: Paperback Library, 1968), with cover by Jeffrey Jones.
ABOVE: Michael D. Resnick, The Goddess of Ganymede (New York: Paperback Library, 1968), with cover by Jeffrey Jones.
ABOVE: A. E. Van Vogt, The Far Out Worlds of A. E. Van Vogt (New York: Ace Books, 1968), with cover by Jeffrey Jones.
ABOVE: L. Sprague de Camp, The Clocks of Iraz (New York: Pyramid Books, 1971), with cover by Jeffrey Jones.
Even though I don’t much care for any of the above covers, I have decided to include them here anyway for what they reveal about Jones’s slow but steady development as an artist.
Keywords:The Spawn of the Death Machine, The Goddess of Ganymede, The Far Out Worlds of A. E. Van Vogt, The Clocks of Iraz.
Todd Adams of Glimmer Graphics has a beautiful new limited edition print by Jeffrey Jones available for purchase on his company’s Web site. “I have published over 50 fine art prints through the years,” writes Todd, “and this is the finest print quality I have seen to date.” Here’s a link to the order page. And here’s a copy of the image Todd sent out to promote the print:
ABOVE: Jeffrey Jones, A Game of Thrones (c. 2000), oil on canvas.
Jones created the above painting for Meisha Merlin Publishing’s deluxe limited edition of the first book in George R. R. Martin’s “A Song of Fire & Ice” epic. The new Glimmer Graphics print is comprised of 375 signed and numbered copies, as well as 25 artist proof copies, all on 500 g/m² acid-free, ultra-smooth paper. Sheet size is 22 x 16 inches, with an image size of 19 x 12.5 inches.
BONUS CONTENT (added 13 December 2011):
What follows are all of the images from a “work in progress” page that appeared on Jeffrey Jones’s official website, which since Jones’s death has disappeared from the Web; the images are presented in the same order that Jones presented them on the original page:
On a separate page entitled “Painting Methods,” Jones wrote:
I stretch my own canvases and prefer linen, unprimed. Two coats of gesso with sanding on each dry coat. Bristle brushes, filberts give me the texture and quality of surface I like. I use no mediums, just turpentine. My palette consists of three yellows, yellow ochre pale, raw sienna and chrome yellow. The reds I use are venetian, burnt umber, burnt sienna and cadmium. I like oxide of chromium for green, all other greens are mixed. Ultramarine is the only blue I use. When painting I consider complements and mix them together on the palette, using a bit of a complement in each mixture. For example, I might make a purple using ultramarine and venetian red and add a bit of ochre to temper it. If I use a yellow I add a little purple to temper that color. I never use black but mix it using several dark colors together. I like to paint wet in wet to keep the painting “soupy”.
I usually start a painting with a house painting brush, covering up the white of the canvas and laying in dark and light shapes. Then come some middle tones. I think in tone at first and color later. I do a lot of scraping and wiping in the beginning-at this point it’s all rather abstract.
I don’t know how many ways there are of working but what I’ve found, and it took some time, is perhaps peculiar to me. The most exciting thing is a blank white canvas or piece of paper–anything can happen. This is why I’ve long ago gotten away from scripts and manuscripts. I’m not really an illustrator. It’s probably my education in German Abstract Expressionism where whatever happens on a piece of art happens all the time. There is no real beginning and no end, there is just a time to abandon. I honestly never know what the “finish” will look like. I’ve said this before so bear with me here. The work and I have a “conversation”. There are times it listens to me and times I must listen to it. As long as it’s a “we” process there are no dull bits. There are impasses where I have to put it aside for a while but that’s not boredom. Boredom can just be another word for anger. For almost 30 years I have written my own comics, and the writing is done along with the drawing, not beforehand. It’s the same with painting. The narrative, which is often ambiguous, evolves with time. If it does indeed ever get dull then it is finished.
I always use titanium white because of it’s opaqueness and covering ability. It doesn’t matter which white you use, mixing white with any primary color will give you a pasty pastel. You have to mix the colors before adding white. Also lack of pastiness depends on which colors are next to each other.
…Howard Pyle advised his students, “Put light colors next to light colors and dark colors next to darks, then where you want the viewer to descend, put dark next to light.” This is a good rule of thumb.
Please note that the above description of Jones’s material preferences and process in oil has been cut and pasted, without alteration, from the original “Painting Methods” page on Jones’s official website.
BONUS CONNECTION (added 24 February 2014):
ABOVE: Joseph Mallord William Turner, Wreckers, Coast of Northumberland (c. 1834), oil on canvas, 125.9 x 90.5 cm. Collection of Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut, USA. Via Wikimedia Commons.
ABOVE: Jeffrey Jones, A Game of Thrones (c. 2000), oil on canvas.
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