Like many, I encountered the work of Kelley Jones for the first time in the pages of Sandman. I was blown away by Jones' use of blacks, often lavishly applying black where other artists might pull back lest they be accused of 'faking it' by doing black fills instead of drawing.
But with him you don't get the impression the blacks are arbitrary or accidental. You get the sense they are natural emergences from the drawing process, the gloom and darkness of each piece oozing from the pen. Clearly this is an artist inspired by other greats such as Frazetta and Wrightson.
I know absolutely nothing about Kelley Jones other than he drew a lot of Batman and did quite a bit of Sandman. I don't own a lot of Batman comics... maybe just half a dozen plus The Cult TBP. So I don't have any Jones work outside of Sandman and a few other oddities lying around.
I find his drawings inspirational. They are visual treats. In my own work I often struggle to find the "vibe" that I love. Artists like Jones help me at least get a sense of what that vibe might feel like.
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I think I've read a couple of Batman issues, but the first time I encountered Kelley Jones was on the Aliens comic, of all things. His version of the Alien was very strange and very distinctive. I can't say I liked it back then but I've grown to appreciate what Jones was doing.
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