Jon J Muth - Stonecutter Page 13, 1992 - 1993, Ink, 13 x 17 Inches, Signed and Stamped with a Handmade Chinese Seal. Copyright Jon J Muth.
One of only 72 pieces offered exclusively with the handbound edition of the book. Each book featured a different page of artwork from the story.
A brief video of Jon J. Muth's process:
https://youtu.be/tFfs1iWrlV0?si=Yqe6IN2UOTN2G1Nz
Stonecutter Film Copyright (C) Jamie Tolagson
Stonecutter is an adaptation of a Chinese folktale about a man's dissatisfaction with his life. Weary of being a stonecutter, he becomes many things in his quest for authority, each time finding that greater power lies elsewhere. Rooted in Taoist principles, Stonecutter is a story about the nature of power and the value of being that which you are.
Jon J Muth was born in 1960 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was educated as a painter. He had his first one-man exhibit of paintings and drawings at the invitation of Wilmington College when he was eighteen.
For the past fifteen years he has concentrated his illustration work in the area of comic books. His comics work has been published by MARVEL/EPIC, DC/VERTIGO, ECLIPSE BOOKS, NBM, DONALD M. GRANT PUBLISHERS, INC., and, in Japan, KODANSHA. Articles about his work have appeared in the NEW YORK TIMES, NEWSWEEK, PRINT, SPEAKEASY, INFASHION, CARPE NOCTEM, NEW AMERICAN ART, and AMERICAN FILM MAGAZINE. In 1998, Muth founded THE AUGUST COMPANY, an organization to provide for development in the arts, which has produced a critically acclaimed world premiere CD and published the work of several new writers. For BBC educational television, in 1991, he created a short graphic story, SHARIF AUGUSTUS, for which he also produced the music and narrated. In 1994, Muth was commissioned by the CINCINNATI SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, as part of their centennial celebration, to paint a portrait of music director, Maestro Jesus Lopez-Cabos. In 1995, he created IMAGINARY MAGNITUDE, a surreal comic strip based on his relationship with his son, Nikolai. This ran in Japan for 3 years in the manga-magazine AFTERNOON and led him to concentrate his current llustration work in the area of children's books, where he has garnered international acclaim and various awards of merit.
Currently he lives in upstate New York, chasing the clouds from his brushes with his wife Bonnie and his children, Nikolai and Adelaine.
