J. Jones
You may be looking for the fan Jane Jones.
| Fan | |
|---|---|
| Name: | J. Jones |
| Alias(es): | |
| Type: | fan artist, Vidder, Fan writer |
| Fandoms: | Starsky & Hutch, Harry and Johnny, Miami Vice |
| Communities: | |
| Other: | |
| URL: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
J. Jones is a Starsky & Hutch fan artist and vidder who began creating art and fan vids in the mid-1980s. Her artwork appeared in numerous fanzines, and she once hosted some of her art work on a GeoCities site. She remained active in fandom through the early 2000s, posting some of her art online under her full name in the Paula Wilshe and Hutchrules3 story Tandem. She also created art for Miami Vice and the Harry & Johnny fan universe and wrote a small quantity of Miami Vice fan fiction.
About Her Zine Art
As can be seen in the representative art gallery below, Jones's early work tended to focus on portraits of Starsky & Hutch. And because many of her portraits were used for fanzine cover art, they often featured both characters. While some of Jones's portraits are somber or intense, a few, like the smiling Starsky below from Moonlight and Mists show fandom's perception of the light-hearted side of the characters. In some cases, her artwork was drawn to accompany events in the story like the cover art for Convicted or the interior art in TLC and Half You, Half Me. As an artist, she did not shy away from using 'unpopular' looks for the characters, such as drawing Hutch with his infamous mustache (see TLC art below). She also excelled at combining zine titles with her art as seen on the covers of With a Little Help from My Friends and Commitment. And last, like many fanartists, some of Jones' portraits were modeled on studio photos stills released at the time (see the 5th portrait of Starsky & Hutch below from Moonlight and Mists. As a side note, the zine, Moonlight and Mists contains the artist's earliest work currently available on Fanlore.)
Zines With Her Art
- A Little Bit of Cyn (cover)
- Between Friends #9, #10, #11, #12 (covers)
- Convicted (cover)
- Commitment (cover and inside art)
- Distant Shores
- Don't Give Up On Us, Baby (inside art)
- Half You, Half Me #2 (inside art)
- Long Time Gone (cover, interior)
- Moonlight and Mists (inside art)
- Nightlight #2 (inside art)
- Penal Code #1, #2 (inside art)
- Seasoned Timber #3 (cover)
- TLC (inside art)
- The Fix #2, #4, #6, #13/#14, #15, #17, #19 (mostly covers)
- With a Little Help from My Friends (cover)
Some Fannish Commentary
- In a 1985 issue of the letterzine Between Friends one fan writes: while at the Paul Muni Special convention art auction "...I could not resist buying two beautiful "Johnny" drawings by [Jones]..." (Source: Issue #12).
- In issue #10 of Between Friends a contributor comments on Jones's artwork in issue #9 of the letterzine: "Terrific artwork this issue. Especially the portrait of Hutch on Page 8. It is such a handsomely done piece of work that even the hairy caterpiller looks good! Hope to see more of your work in future issues." Another writes: "....your illo on Page 22 is just gorgeous."
Vidding
As one of the early vidders in media fandom, Jones experimented with the fanvid format. In her "History of Vidding" panel presented by Kandy Fong at Vividcon 2008 Kandy explained: "[Jones] took the 'one action scene'/one song concept a different direction by reusing scenes to extend the action sequences. [For example in the vid "Don't Stop" by Chilliwack she looped together repeated clips of Starsky running in a park to empathize the song's theme "Don't stop what you're doin' to me. Do it forever, do it forever".] She also used the show's dialog in her vids." An example of a vid that blended music with dialog was her Starsky & Hutch vid "Runaway" which was shown at the Vividcon "Vidding History: 1980-1984" panel.
A complete list of her vids can be found here.
J. Jones use of title cards was also a standout feature, not common at the time.
screencap of the title card of the fanvid "Runaway" - the yellow tint is the result of the aging on the videotape and the effect of multiple copies
for this title card for the vid "Love's Got A Hold On You" J.Jones uses a behind the scenes magazine photo that was popular among the slash fan community
This pensive screencap of Hutch staring through a hospital window at a gravely injured Starsky is a favorite among fans. Here it is paired with Melissa Manchester's song "Midnight Blue": "Midnight blue. Wouldn't you give your hand to a friend? Maybe it's not the end. And I think we can make it.."
Gallery: Some of Jones's Art
interior Moonlight and Mists, 1985. This is one of Jones's earliest art pieces, and it shows an unusual sensitivity for the moodiness and sadness many fans saw in the character of Hutch. The drawing is notable both in terms of style (half-portrait) and its use of white space and the application of a single colored pencil, giving the drawing a uniform sepia tone.
cover of Convicted, 1995. An example of Jones's art that was drawn specifically to match the storyline. The cover clearly signals to the reader the major themes of the novel: a wrongful conviction and prison.
cover of With a Little Help from My Friends, 2004. One of the challenges many fanzine cover artists face is to how to prevent their art from being overshadowed by the zine title text. In this drawing, Jones has quite cleverly framed the text around a smiling Starsky & Hutch so that it draws the eye towards the center of the cover. The font selection and use of hand drawn asterisks also complements the image - informal and carefree. Contrast this with her earlier cover on the zine Commitment.
cover of Commitment, 1988. In this cover Jones has seamlessly integrated the title into the art, giving the cover an almost professionally designed look. The use of a single colored pencil helps with the integration.
interior Moonlight and Mists, 1985. Like other pieces of her art, this drawing was reused in another zine, Between Friends #11. This smiling Starsky and Hutch is a departure from Jones's often more moody or dramatic depictions of the characters. The art is probably modeled on this production still.[1] Using official production stills or photographs as reference models is a common practice in fan art.
