CG :: Jeff Smith's Pre-Cartoon Books and Finished Bone Art

Fone and Phoney Bone Inked Illustration from the 80s by Jeff Smith

Artists: Jeff Smith (Penciller) , Jeff Smith (Inker)

5 Comments - 175 Views - 2 Likes

Fone and Phoney Bone Inked Illustration from the 80s by Jeff Smith Comic Art

Click Image to View Full Size

Additional Images:

Published strip

Boneville.com

Previous Item:
Bone #3 Panel Recreation: Fone and the Great Red Dragon

Next Item:
Fone and Phoney Bone Illustration for a 1986 Lantern news article

Artwork Details

Title:	Fone and Phoney Bone Inked Illustration from the 80s by Jeff Smith
Artist:	Jeff Smith (Penciller)
Artist:	Jeff Smith (Inker)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Illustration
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	175
Likes on CAF:	2 3
Comments:	5
Added to Site:	4/8/2024
Comic Art Archive:

Description

Here is Fone and Phoney Bone in a delightful illustration from the mid-80s while Jeff Smith attempted to syndicate the story into a newspaper comic strip. I bought this directly from a former employee at Character Builders, an animation business founded by both Jeff and fellow cartoonist Jim Kammerud. She said that Jeff would draw pieces like this during the company�s downtime between projects.

The illustration was completed on an 11� by 11� piece of Bristol board and the characters themselves are drawn much larger than how Jeff inked them in the original Thorn comic strips. It�s unsigned but it was posted on Boneville.com a few years ago (see the additional images).

I originally had this piece up in 2017 but took it down for a variety of reasons. Most importantly, I didn�t have enough information about it. However, last year (2023) a fellow collector showed me a fantastic piece of OA that was a full page Thorn comic strip that Jeff had published in an Ohio State magazine called The Sundial in March 1986. One of the panels had Phoney in an extremely similar pose so I�m now fairly confident in dating this somewhere between 1986 and 1987.

Social/Sharing

About the Owner

	C. G. Premium Gallery Owner
Joined:	February 2013
Last Login:	September 2025
Country:	UNITED STATES
On CAF:	C.'s Want List Artworks Commented On Liked Art Site Activity on CAF

Contact the Owner

Use can use a contact form to send an email to this gallery owner,
but, you must be logged in to use this feature.

Comments on this Artwork

You must be logged in to make comments.

D J
Member Since 2014

1 - Posted on 4/8/2024

Awesome piece! The Phoney is almost exact to that panel, but the Fone is also very similar to the third panel of the second row.

Marcus Wai
Member Since 2005

1 - Posted on 4/9/2024

Very nice fluid brush line work! Bone always resembled the Walt Kelly look and his simplicity in design made him so relatable to everyone. The eyebrows are so expressive by themselves.

Tangled Web Art
Member Since 2020

1 - Posted on 4/9/2024

Congrats with this one! I don't see many such "detailed" and finished pieces of Bone by Jeff Smith out there.

Alex Johnson
Member Since 2006
Forum Moderator

1 - Posted on 4/11/2024

What a wonderful piece! I love Bone, too. I was lucky enough to get a piece from the Bone 20th Anniversary celebration.

Kin Wong
Member Since 2007

1 - Posted on 4/13/2024

Wow, original Bone art by Jeff Smith is hard enough to find, but a piece from the 80s is even tougher. It's interesting to see how his design of Bone was nearly there, but there was still a bit of refinement to come before he created the Bone we all know and love. Congrats!

All
	P A 9/6/2025 11:49:00 AM
	J Murdock 9/6/2025 11:31:00 AM
	COMIX ART 9/6/2025 11:30:00 AM
	Dave E 9/6/2025 11:22:00 AM
	Federico Bettini 9/6/2025 11:20:00 AM
View All


	James Cline 9/6/2025 11:18:00 AM
	Ben H 9/6/2025 11:10:00 AM
	Henrik Henrik 9/6/2025 10:58:00 AM
	Aasemoon ‎ 9/6/2025 10:54:00 AM
	Aidan (Re-Legion ) Lacy 9/6/2025 10:51:00 AM