Encipher

The last time I was at SDCC was 2018. As always, I made it a point to stop by Jonathan’s booth to see what artwork he had for sale. The bad news is that I missed out on a lot of the art as most of it had sold before I got there. The good news is that I got on Jon’s commission list, but was number 7 in line. We didn’t really discuss any subjects or themes because he told me it might be a while before he got to me. He just said that he would let me know when he got to the last one before mine. That finally happened in late 2019. To be honest, there really wasn’t a lot of discussion about it. He basically asked me if I had any characters in mind, or if I wanted to just let him do his own thing. I told him that I really wanted him to enjoy the experience and not just think of it as a job for hire. He admitted to me that he did have a few ideas he was excited about, so we both agreed that he should just cut loose and go where his inspiration took him.

When I saw the work in progress photo he sent me (see additional images) I knew I had made the right decision. Even at that very early stage, I was blown away. To be honest, I would have been thrilled if he had given it to me that way. It was hard to imagine how much more work he could put into the piece. As it turns out, the WIP was only about 20% of the finished piece. When I saw the scan of the final version, I realized just how much work he had poured into the piece. I was totally incredulous. And considering that it’s a huge 22 x 30 piece, coupled with the fact that so much of what Jon puts in is almost microscopic in detail, you can almost begin to imagine the amount of work that went into this beautiful monstrosity. It’s executed in colored pencil, ink, acrylic, gouache, and whiteout on 4-ply bristol. It’s title, Encipher (which means to encrypt), is perfect for the piece. I could study this drawing forever and still never gain any insight to its meaning. Ultimately, only the artist himself can DEcipher it for us. Or maybe it’s just designed to keep us all guessing.

My profound thanks to Jonathan for doing such inspired work on this commission and of course for taking the time to deliver it personally to my front door. Your gifted imagination and extraordinary artistic skills never cease to amaze me. Enjoy and stay safe everyone!