Bob Jones, from Mackay Qld. , developed a love of cartooning, illustration and comic book art in early childhood and in High School, won First Prize for a jewellery design competition.
He was accepted into TAFE in Townsville and completed his Diploma of Art Majoring in Visual Communication in 1987, aged 22.
Bob quickly developed a wide range of interests in different mediums.
- Portraits – including Pablo Picasso, Winston Churchill & Keifer Sutherland
- Gouache renderings – Photographic-quality studies of wildlife
- Gouache paintings – medieval characters & beasts
- Black & White Ink Fantasy Art – Traditional Freehand Drawings
- Environments & Landscapes
- Anatomical Studies & Nudes – particular interest in muscular, voluptuous physiques
- Fantasy Characters
- Caricatures
The influence of Boris Vallejo, a favourite artist can be seen in his style and focus on male and female warrior characters.
His first job was at an advertising agency as an Artist and Compositor producing tabloid newspaper advertising. Bob has always encouraged young people who are still in school to develop their interest in Art and over the years he has taken on private students.
Bob was approached by James Cook University to produce graphics on computer in their Multi-Media Department. As he had no training in this area, he trained himself in the use of Photoshop and an animation program, Director. In this position he produced programmes for distance education on CD ROM as this was before widespread availability of the Internet.
Bob moved to Brisbane for family reasons in 2000 and took a position at Auran Games, the producers of Dark Reign. He found he was able to indulge his interest in fantasy art and express his sense of humour. He also undertook training in Studio Max and established himself as a respected Artist within the industry, who could produce fast and detailed work.
After many years at Auran, the Fury project he was working on had come to an end and he moved to THQ (Toy Headquarters), another computer game company. This company had a new project that was still in it’s early stages of design and production.
After undertaking a management course he took on a supervisory role of a small team of Artists while still producing Concept Art for Warhammer Space Marine. He enjoys being part of the Brisbane gaming industry and the friendships that have developed from his work.
Through a friendship with Erik Moller of Timetrap, he was part of the production of the retro-style Platformer game Emberwind, which he is very proud of. It shows all of the things he loves including fantasy, elves and fun. Fun is very important to him and he is always the first to speak up in meetings of the need for a game to be ‘fun’.
Sadly, THQ recently closed it’s Australian branches. The team continued to support each other and stay in touch, helping each other with employment opportunities and connections.
During this hiatus time, he painted a 30 metre mural for a local Landscaping company with some support with colour mixing from his wife and Devil Dog, their 4kg black pomeranium, standing guard over the afternoon tea supplies.
In 2011 Bob started a new position as 3D Artist with Halfbrick – CEO Shanielle Deo, the creators of Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride. He is currently enjoying the innovative culture and being part of a team where management encourages everyone to share their ideas for new games by taking part in Halfbrick Friday. This provides a relaxed forum for new ideas and in-house communication.
Bob’s interests include :_
“Movies, comic Books, Ten-pin Bowling, Lawn bowls , Unicycling, Animation, Music. Drawing, Painting, Pen and Ink. David Attenborough documentaries. Computer games, (old and New), 3D modelling and animation. Working on and around the house with my darling Missus, gardening and coffee. Home brewed beer and Ginger Beer. Playing “Duck” with my wee doggie and more coffee.”
