Randy Jones

SMEAR CAMPAIGN

2008-10-05T02:28:02+00:00

    When Sara Palin gave her first introduction speech in the Republican convention, she told her hockey mom , pit-bull, lipstick joke. This inspired one of the fastest sketches that I've ever done. Less than a minute . It might even have be a telephone doodle.
     Almost as another joke, I sent it to my friend, Martin Kozlowski , He wanted it for that week's INX package. We discussed how graphic the original sketch was . However, I still redrew it and photoshopped and it was published <INXart.com>
      A few days passed and I started working on a promotion, using this art. I called a designer friend and downstairs neighbour, Kim Grover, to help me with the layout. She came across the original "minute sketch", almost teetering in my trash can. She quickly built another card with the original sketch.
It was a beautiful fall afternoon, and I needed a walk. so, I put both versions in a plastic sleeve and went for an East Village walkabout . I would stop friends and total strangers and showed my two versions of my mailings. Each person responded with a healthy belly laugh.
      That determined that the concept was good. But , should I send the first "telephone doodle " drawing, or the photoshop colour art.
     I was out there a good two hours. The test marketing was split down the middle.   When I returned, I sent E-mails to some friends and it was still even.
   I opted for the colour version only because it had Barack's skin colour. Someone also commented that McCain looked like Don Rickles. I liked that and I would rather vote for Rickles.

It was a total waste of a perfectly beautiful fall afternoon, but, I enjoyed it.
I'll probably never test market any of my drawings again. It's too democratic. However, I might think to publish more   telephone doodles .

I've got an opening at the Brooklyn Public Library at the Grand Army Plaza main entrance on November 4, election day called" The Art of Politics". I've decided to use this image for my main banner.
The opening reception will be on Thursday, November 6th. It'll either a party or a wake depending on the outcome of the election.
I'll be showing all the drawings I've had published during the last two years of the presidential campaign, in chronological order.

More to come

Friars Club Ghosts

2008-07-08T21:28:05+00:00

I just completed this Friars Club "Save The Date " invitation and poster for their next roast. It's in honour of Matt Lauer with Al Roker as Roast-master. It's a dream come true.
   I've always been a big fan of the roasts and how viscous they can be. My favourite roasters. Jeffrey Ross, Lisa Lampanelli, Artie Lang, and Gilbert Gottfried. Gilbert is the only person I met occasionally in the old National Lampoon offices, and he was so shy . But, on the podium, all hell breaks loose. I wonder if they broadcast the original Aristrocrats joke on the original Hugh Heffner Roast?
     In addition to the "Save the Date " invitation, and the poster, I'll be drawing several celebrities who will be attending the Roast in October.
    When Susann and I went for lunch to discuss the project, in the Frank Sinatra dining room , they later gave us the   the grand tour of the "Monastery" . I couldn't help to feel some of the old spirits lurking about the dark panelled walls . When I saw the Billiard table in the Jackie Gleason pool room, I first felt the   nostalgia of old New York and old Hollywood.
It's the smallest building on the block, surrounded by gigantic skyscrapers on east 55th Street.

Hanky-Panky in Balmoral Castle:

2008-05-31T15:39:22+00:00

Tony Blair's wife, Cherie, has just published a lurid autobiography called " Speaking for Myself".
Quentin Letts's article "Memoirs to Forget" mentioned that Mrs Blair "conceived her youngest child after forgetting to take her " contraceptive equipment" to Queen Elizabeth's ill heated Scottish castle, Balmoral, one drafty September."
This is the spark that I needed .

This illustration was published in the Wall Street Journal's Liesure & Arts on Saturday, May 24

A Whole New Ball Game...For Me.

2008-05-15T06:14:12+00:00

This is a Wall Street Journal article that was about Bill Polian, who had the Midas touch in drafting Super Bowl winners .
Most of you Drawger artist have been photoshopping your colour work for millennia. It's a new ball game for me. I still water-coloured the shadow, then photoshoped the colour. I'm much happier with the vibrant colour on newsprint.
I feel like I'm back in art school .

The Electronic Dragon

2008-04-04T01:33:15+00:00

I published this art on the INX site and it got some favourable responses . It's about the Tibetan protest against the Chinese Olympic Games. I'm using prisma colours and photoshop. I'm really enjoying the looser lines, and it's very much faster than pen and ink. It helps on those same day deadlines.

Inner Circle Charity Ball

2008-03-15T14:19:07+00:00

The Inner Circle Charity Ball was performed at thr Grand Ballroom at the New York Hilton on March 15 /2008. This year's show was called" YOUNG MIKENSTEIN"
Here is my front and back cover art and some interior illustrations
It's the 86th Annual Charity Ball performed by media and print journalists who cover the New York City political scene .
This job came out of the blue in the last year of Mayor David Dinken's term . I've really enjoyed drawing all the local and national characters on the political stage.
     This is also the show where Guiliani used to wear a dress. He was playing Rudy/Rudia , from the Broadway cast of Victor /Victoria, with Julie Andrews.
This year's show was a month earlier than usual. The Spitzer affair broke on the Monday before. It didn't really effect me because, the program was already at the printers.
I met David Paterson at the Con Edison Party , but,he left before the Spitzer jokes. I liked him. Then , he had his own problems.

Here's my contribution to the Governor Spitzer story. It was published on the INX syndicate <INXart.com> on Tuesday.
I put it into the Inner Circle ball as a stage backdrop at the New York Hilton's Inner Circle show. It was in the dress rehearsal performed last night. I love my work blown up that large.
   This years show is "Young Mikenstein". It's very funny and well performed by print and television journalist who cover the City Hall Beat.
    The $500 a plate dinner and mayor Bloomberg rebuttal will be performed tonight . Susann and I will be selling the program art . It's a very long weekend , but, it's a lot of fun. I'll post more about the show later.

Now What Magazine

2008-02-16T13:26:43+00:00

      Here is a new series that I'm really enjoying . I haven't posted in a while, but, I've got a Roger Clemen's drawing coming out in Sunday's Newsday, and a Barron's cover I'm waiting to get published. In the meantime, I've been laying low on a few exciting projects I'm dying to tell you all about.
        My good friend and fellow INXster< INXart .com> Martin Kozlowski, has created an on-line humour magazine
called " Now What" < nowwhatmedia.com> .
      He asked me to illustrate the Cinema section of the " Critic's Corner . " All I do is parody the posters of newly released movies. Last week, I illustrated Vince Vaughn's unfunny self indulgent movie" Wild West Comedy Show".

Choking Victim Memorabilia

2008-02-02T16:23:53+00:00

     A few months ago, I was re-organising my record collection when I came across my old Choking Victim 45. It 's in mint condition.
     It brought back fond memories of the band's smoke filled gigs at CBGB's. ....I think. I lost 40% of my hearing to some screeching keyboard solo from some forgotten band.
There was only two things holding me back from posting this article.
     I had to find their tongue depressors. I also had to go way back into my photo albums to try and find some young compromising pictures of the Choking Victim band .
    I couldn't find any Peter Thorp , or Bob Zimmerman pictures, but, I did find some very young pictures of Mark Matcho and Mike Bartolos . I'm using Zimm's Menudo picture from his current Bogus Products article
As for the Choking Victim Tongue Depressor.
     It finally showed up right under my nose in my pen drawer. It's been there all these years. Since I've switched to my R. Esterbrook Co.steel nibs, I hardly use my Rapidiographs any more.

I wanted to post my memorabilia on Drawger, so, I asked Zimm for permission . He said

"Do it, man."

Here's my post to refer to at Drawger:

http://www.drawger.com/zimm/?section=comments&article_id=444&

Here's the terrible sounds of me, Mark, Mike and Peter Thorpe, which I also posted at Drawger in the early days of the site:

http://www.drawger.com/zimm/cv.html

Crazy times and a LOT of fun had by a few...

Go for it.

Z

With Zimm's consent, we can all sit back and dial up the volume knob to 11, and listen to Choking Victim one more time. ENJOY

How Time Flies.

2008-02-01T16:04:50+00:00

How Time Flies.

Here are two drawings about air traffic congestion published years apart. Some things never change.
The first drawing illustrates when Reagan busted the Air Traffic Controller Unions.

The recent Newsday Opinion article( January 18/2008) illustrates the congestion caused by so many smaller jets clogging up the runway for the big planes at Kennedy Airport.

I love to draw and fly them.

Martin Luther King Day

2008-01-21T21:58:18+00:00

      I've been sitting on this article since last December , to post for the Martin Luther King Holiday. It was published on November 30th /2007, in the Weekend Journal for the Wall Street Journal
       It's serious story of the current conditions of (HBCU's) Historically Black Colleges and Universities. I liked the simplicity of the concept of these three men from different generations , just standing , doing nothing but displaying their college football logos.
   I also found the time line very interesting. Martin Luther King Jr. graduated Morehouse (Atlanta) in 1948, W.E.B. DuBois graduated from Fisk in 1888, and Thurgood Marshall from Lincoln ( Chester County Pa.) in 1930.
       I received an E-Mail the Friday morning it was published, from a prominent lawyer in Alabama that wanted to purchase the original. We quickly negotiated a price for the original and had it sold by noon. He paid immediately , and I sent it off . Over the holidays, we received a Christmas card from him saying that my art is hanging in his son's room, and , that his son is attending Morehouse College where Dr. Martin Luther King went.
It's always great to find a good home for the originals.

PEACE Show at the Sideshow .

2008-01-19T18:10:25+00:00

      I'm participating in this group show at the Sideshow Gallery that's opening tonight in Williamsburg Brooklyn. I'm showing these two small sculptures and my Three Stooges Wisemen from my Christmas eve Drawger posting ,
     Frances Jetter has another print of her George Bush in the Bone chair that is currently showing in Steve Brodner's Society of Illustrator's show , and an amazing print of a Troll Doll.
     The Sideshow Gallery was founded by Richard Timperio in 1999 to create a space that would foster young Williamsburg artists, giving them exposure and a means to create a dialogue with the larger artists community. I snuck in from the East Village.

Richard Timperio, an artist himself, has been an esteemed member in the Brooklyn art scene since 1979, and has been curating since 1995. I met Richard many years ago when he was an airbrush illustrator. We even shared an agent. It's been interesting to watch his transition from an illustrator, to a painter, and gallery curator and owner.

When Leo Espinosa commented that my two sculptures looked like the Marc Caro movie, "City of Lost Children", I might agree,except. that these figures were created many years before the movie was made . I had so many influences, and still have, but one stands out. I remember reading the Gormenghast Trilogy , by Melvin Peake in 1950. He was an illustrator, painter, poet, novelist and playwright ( in that order)
I 'm posting the sculptures in their original form . Many years later, I had to bronze them just to save them from falling apart.

Let the Presidential Election Begin........Again!

2008-01-10T15:53:28+00:00

These presidential races are so long that you can watch the candidates age before your eyes. I did one of my first elections drawings last May . I tried to make it interesting with the presidential food fight. It was my homage to the Animal House Movie.
However, by the time of the Iowa Caucus, with Obama's speech, Hillery's tears , and Guiliani's crash and burn till Florida tactics, I found myself getting excited by this horse race. As far as I can tell, no one is screwing around with the voting machines and stealing elections....YET.

Nyuck Nyuck Nyuck Christmas

2007-12-24T19:32:38+00:00

Philharmonics and Bridges.

2007-12-22T03:20:03+00:00

When I get an illustration job that requires complicated visuals like architecture , cars, and philharmonic orchastras, I take a deep breath,and dive in. I know it's going to be a long night, and I love it.
I illustrated the San Francisco Symphony with Michael Tilson Thomas conducting , under the Golden Gate Bridge, for the Wall Street Journal in 2003. Last weekend , and 4 years later, I drew the Long Island Philharmonic on a Long Island Expressway overpass for the New York Newsday. I don't get to draw entire symphony orchestras, and bridges very often, but, I think I've cornered the market.

Yet Another Hugo Chavez

2007-12-11T18:21:05+00:00

     I really enjoyed Tim O Brien's posting of his Hugo Chavez painting on November 3rd, and the wide range of political comments that it attracted. That's as it should be.
When I went to Bolivia and Peru, many years ago,there were Simon Bolivar statues in every village and town we travelled, so I know how highly regarded he is.
     I finally got the opportunity to draw Chavez in the New York Newsday, well after Tim's article was posted . I returned to his site, and, I have to admit, that I did a quick sketch of Chavez with Tim's painting in mind. The uniform idea was not approved, but, his real life regalia was .
    This was a daily and the article came in late, so I drew Chavez's face and scaned it , then made the sketches with the finished face. I've never done that before.

Long Island Railroad Cellphone rage

2007-10-29T12:08:27+00:00

    I recently illustrated a New York Newsday article by Claudia Gryvatz Copuin about a LLIR commuter , and who went berserk about loud cell-phones . " He's gotten into scuffles, shouting matches, and even poured coffee on someone for what he considered rude rail behaviour. As a result, this 59 year -old so-called train terrorist from Long Beach has been rightly issued summonses or arrested by MTA police many times, for his boorish behaviour."
     She identified him as John Clifford and all he wants is a "Quiet Car"-- one designated area where cell-phone and IPods would be forbidden.
    I'm not a commuter, nor do I hate cell-phones, but, this is all I needed to take from the article. I Googled the interior and exterior of the trains and I came up with this image.

After publication, I was reminded of another train drawing published in the New York Times , Week In Review section many years ago. It illustrates David Gunn, then president of the MTA , snake charming a subway train, to illustrate that he was cleaning up graffiti in the subways. It won a humour award at the Society of Illustrators.

ARM Monster, Real Halloween Scare

2007-10-27T20:00:06+00:00

This Illustration was publishing in last Wednesday's Wall Street Journal . the article was " Countrywide's New Scare" . It shows their chairman and CEO Angelo Mozilo cowering under the company covers from the ARM Monster, (loans known as option adjustable -rates mortgages . option ARMs) .

   Since it's publication, the story has has evolved into a scarier Halloween story each day.
     Last night , we spotted Carrie on commercial television. We like watching scary movies around Halloween. I was surprised that there were several Countrywide Investments commercials during the movie.
     Of coarse, you hear how bad SUV's are, and you get Hummer ads. You hear about childhood obesity and diabetes, you see the sugar ads on the kid shows.
Now we hear home mortgage advertisements selling minimum payment that covers none of the principle. and their loan balances grow-- a phenomenon known as"negative amortisation." ( obvious quote from the article)
     It was a pleasure to draw the ARM Monster.
    I used my own hand as a model. If I happen to meet any Drawger members out there, you might hesitate shaking my hand.