Henry Jones Interview

Political cartoonists are like pressure valves for newspapers. They do and say things reporters can’t, but desperately want and need to. Great cartoonists simplify complex situations to a fine detail that changes your point of view or informs a decision in a matter of seconds. Henry Jones may not be shaking up crooked political paradigms or administering justice with the flick of a pen, but he’s pointing a finger at skateboarding, skateboarders, and ultimately himself. His success and ability to capture the love we all share for skateboarding is no small feat. Jones gives a voice to the nagging thoughts we all have while skating, while we’re not skating, and other fucked up situations we find ourselves in as a result of being stung by the skateboarding bug. We thought it was only natural we ask the man behind the now famous Henry Jones skate cartoons a few questions.

Henry Jones is one of the featured artists whose artwork is now available on our new Custom Pant Cuffs option on CCS Pants.

How long have you been drawing your characters?I've been drawing as long as I can remember, but I've only been doing the style of characters that I think have become more familiar with people for the last 4 years about.

You seem to be drawing constantly. How many drawings do you do on a normal day? Do you spend more time perfecting something specific or do you just crank out a ton and see what you like best?Some days I don't draw at all, other days I doodle throughout the day and come up with a gem here and there. Something always happens eventually.

You don’t seem to shy away from drawings that poke fun at skateboarding trends or political topics - do you ever get any backlash?Yea, besides the message I'm trying to send with those drawings, I think the negative responses I get from some people are all the more reason to draw/post them.

Do you have a day job or are you able to keep yourself fed by making art at this point?I used to work at Fairman's Skate Shop in West Chester, PA from 2011 up until about a year and a half ago. Right now I'm just doing art and it seems to be working out all right. If I had a kid or some other expensive life situation I think things might be a bit different.

How did you first get into skating?My neighbor, Dave, skated with a bunch of the older dudes around. They'd always let me hang around when they were skating so I always thought it was pretty cool. Then my brother, Jake, and I got Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and the rest is history.

Growing up in PA and around Fairman’s did you have regular Bam sightings when you were younger? Any good stories about sneaking into his front yard to skate?A few at Boarderline, the local indoor park. I was a little young at the time to ever be crossing paths with him out in the streets though. Luckily, we've never had to sneak in since the Fairman's squad would usually be given the gate code haha.

Who were your favorite skaters and companies growing up?I really liked Blind a lot and all the dudes that were on the team like James Craig, Ronnie Creager, Josh Kasper. The artwork for that era of blind around the early 2000's was sick too. Later on I was really into Flip and all those dudes when Sorry came out.

Did you ever get CCS catalogs when you were a kid?All the time. My brother and I'd get home from school and immediately circle all the stuff we wanted on days that it would come in the mail.

When you’re not drawing skateboarders, what are you drawing or making?Animals, people, people's animals, fucked up shit to make my friends laugh, anything really.

Do you have any hidden non art related talents?I can skate and take huge bong rips

I love the judgmental skater characters in some of your drawings, are those based on people you actually know or things you’ve heard?I think working in a skate shop in a college town for 5 years provided seemingly endless material, those included.

Do you hate scooters as much as it appears from your drawings?Yes, even worse though are the parents who treat skate parks like a daycare for their toddler on a scooter. Child endangerment if you ask me.

What would you do if you had a kid and they were legit in love with scootering like the same way you did with skateboarding? Would you have to disown them?I'd try my hardest to prevent that, but if it happens I can always have a new kid, right?

Do you keep count of how many people have had your art tattooed on their body? If so how many?To be honest, I have no idea, it's gotta be in the hundreds if not more just from what I've been tagged in on the internet

Do you have any of your own stuff tattooed on you?Nope.

Will this be the first time your art has appeared on pants?First time for everything. This time it's pants.

What do you think of the idea of being able to customize art on a pant cuff?In a world in which cuffing is the new norm, what better way to set one's self apart?

You’ve been doing a ton lately in the skate world with your art. What’s coming up next for you?I've got a couple shows in the future. I'll be making some more of my own apparel as well as doing graphics for a few other brands. Kinda the same stuff I've been doin just hopefully on a larger scale.