1993 illustration: The Banana That Ate Baltimore!

1993 illustration: Metro Wins Baltimore's Best Buns Contest

One of my first long-term freelance jobs was around 1993,  getting a weekly gig drawing cartoons for the covers of the local Metro Food Market's circulars.   For a little over a year, I had a blast illustrating tabloid-esqe covers of animated food in unusual situations.  For a young illustrator, the $400 per piece was a rare source of steady income and had me honing and crafting a cartoon style that ended up feeding into all sorts of jobs down the road.  I can't believe I'm forgetting the Art Director's name right now, but if you're out there,  please remind me and THANKS!!!

So here's how it began...

Upon graduating from VCU in 1987, everything was done off-line.  My illustrations were all created on board with ink, water color, or acrylic.  Then they were packed up and sent to my clients via Fed X or local courier.    At the time, people liked having a local artist so wearing many illustrator's hats came in handy.  To some I was known as storyboard artist, to some a painter, others a cartoonist.   It worked well and I was grateful to have a slew of work in my studio from the very beginning.   There wasn't the competition of the entire planet back then and I knew nothing of even turning a computer on let alone living and breathing through one...   how things have changed.

Still haven't hopped on the blogging wagon but want to at least attempt a post here.  Let's see if this thing still works. Here's a recent Santa painting in photoshop...

larryjonesillustration.com

Here we go a blogging...