Figurative artist Jon has enjoyed sell-out success in both the UK and Australia. He has been shortlisted for several prestigious awards, including the BP Portrait Award hosted by the National Portrait Gallery in London. Often depicting celebrities or the Peaky Blinders gang, his haunting portraits are perfect for both traditional and contemporary spaces. A 50-metre mural created from his original paintings is currently on display outside Birmingham's New Street station to raise money for Birmingham Children's Hospital.
Birmingham-based portraitist Jon Jones has an unquenchable passion for painting, and if something grabs his imagination, he gets right on with making an image. “If I have an urge to paint something I will drop everything and paint it,” he says. “Once I’ve started working on something I focus all of my energy on that, and often the person I’m painting will help me.”
Jon is a lover of history; growing up in Kings Heath, Birmingham, he was drawn to the darker side of the past and shunned playing football with his friends in favour of exploring the local Hare and Hounds pub, where the landlord regaled tales of hangings and said the cellar was used as a mortuary. As an adult, he went on to hold exhibitions based on prostitution in 18th century London and the history and meanings behind nursery rhymes.
He has worked extensively with the West Midlands Police Museum to explore the criminal underworld of 19th century Birmingham. Many of his haunting paintings delve into the history of the infamous Peaky Blinders gang, made famous by the successful BBC series of the same name.
These incredible monochrome pieces have become signature works for Jon, and there is a huge gallery of them in Birmingham’s city centre, raising money for Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
Jon’s love of popular culture is seen throughout his art. The In My Life collection, named after the moving song by The Beatles, saw him reveal his personal icons. The works are a culmination of Jon’s artistic influences, including pop artist Roy Lichtenstein, whose work was influenced by popular advertising and the comic book style of the early 1960s; street artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, with his raw gestural style of painting with graffiti-like images and scrawled text, German artist Martin Kippenberger, with his irreverence and parody; Rembrandt, a personal hero of Jon’s, considered one of the greatest storytellers in art and unusually gifted in capturing moods, and Joshua Reynolds, the leading portrait painter of the 18th Century.
A fan of comics and cartoons, Jon loves the power a cartoon can have on the viewer. “The instant grab of attention and the ability to convey emotions so simplistically is not lost on me,” he explains. “Nevertheless, I want my work to be more than just a quick line drawing, however well perceived or executed.”
Mark-making is something that Jon has mastered throughout his career, and it’s how he creates representational artworks, using rough lines, marks and smudges to suggest the movement of the people he draws. “By just using several marks I can construct a face and make someone instantly recognisable. The looseness of my work is my way of taking a risk.
“As a portrait painter I strive to capture an expression, mood or feeling, but I also love the juxtaposition between my ‘portrait’ and the accompanying ‘animated’ portrait, it brings a sense of humour to the earnest.” “These are personal paintings which if anything, I paint to make me smile, all the people portrayed have inspired, provoked, and interested me throughout my life.” And he really does mean all through his life - when he was very young, he was creating portraits of John Inman from Are You Being Served?; at the other end of the cultural scale he is a big fan of John Wayne. “In difficult situations, such as during the Covid epidemic, I always think, ‘What would John Wayne do?’.”
As Jon is working in his fascinating studio, full of treasures bought from car boot sales, he uses his work as time to think. “Painting is a journey and a therapy,” he says. “I never used to believe in art therapy, but now I do. When I’m in the studio, it’s just me in silence, thinking about things and that time is an escape for me.
In his show-stopping collection, Silver Screen, figurative artist Jon Jones pays tribute to some of the most memorable moments in film from the last 70 years.
Depicting scenes from classic westerns and musicals, gritty crime thrillers, coming-of-age dramas and touching modern romances, the collection includes four signed limited editions and a selection of superb original works.
The Peaky Blinders gang from Stephen Knight’s acclaimed BBC drama may be bad to the bone, but artist Jon Jones’ portraits of characters from the series on a 50-metre-long portrait wall in Birmingham’s Hill Street have helped to raise £10,000 for the city’s Children’s Hospital Charity.
Featuring names like Thomas Shelby, Alfie Solomons and Polly Gray, the public art display has already been highlighted by the BBC, ITV and Metro newspaper, with the show's creator, Steven Knight, calling it "vivid and brilliant".
Chief executive of Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity, Mark Brider, says: “We’re incredibly thankful to our great friends at Castle Fine Art and Central BID Birmingham for supporting us in this unique way. Jon Jones’s portrayal of Birmingham’s infamous gangsters is visually stunning and we’d urge everyone to come and see his artwork next time they’re in the city centre.
Jon’s passion for painting is unquenchable, and if something grabs his imagination, he gets right on with making an image. ”If I have an urge to paint something I will drop everything and paint it,” he says. “Once I’ve started working on something I focus all of my energy on that, and often the person I’m painting will help me.”
Although Jon is celebrated for his portraits of Birmingham criminals, his influences are much wider. When he was very young, he was creating portraits of John Inman from Are You Being Served?; from another end of the cultural scale he is a big fan of John Wayne. “In difficult situations, such as during the Covid epidemic, I always think, ‘What would John Wayne do?’.”
As an artist, Jon is influenced by painters including Rembrandt and Lucian Freud. “I love Freud, but at the same time I know he has a formula to all of his pieces. His work Is beautiful and I want to have that magic. I’m fascinated by painting eyes – I always start by painting the left eye in a portrait – and I always want to move people emotionally in my work. My dad told me: ‘Don’t strive for perfection; you’ll never reach it’, and I completely agree with him. Once I’ve done the best I can, I can walk away from a painting”.
As Jon is working in his fascinating studio, full of treasures bought from car boot sales, he uses his work as time to think. “Painting is a journey and a therapy,” he says. “I never used to believe in art therapy, but now I do. When I’m in the studio, it’s just me in silence, thinking about things and that time is an escape for me.
“I can never imagine not painting. Even if it wasn’t my job, I’d still be doing it.”
Jon Jones latest collection of original oil portraits, In My Life, named after the moving song by The Beatles, sees him get more personal with his choice of subject and showcase his unquenchable passion for painting. These works are a culmination of Jon’s artistic influences, including pop artist Roy Lichtenstein, whose work was influenced by popular advertising and the comic book style of the early 1960s; street artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, with his raw gestural style of painting with graffiti-like images and scrawled text.
Returning to the roots of his early works, many of Jon’s In My Life paintings feature text, whether it be a stencil with a bold statement or just a scribble about a thought or something poignant that day. Each piece of text relates to the person he has captured in a unique way.
The new originals and limited editions, part of the Made in Birmingham collection, are a mix of Jon’s memories of growing up in the city, his love of history and of the real Peaky Blinders gangs from there, whom he has studied in detail, and some of the many other figures who have captured his imagination.
Inspired in the Birmingham based gang The Peaky Blinders, Jon Jones uses conflicting tones of cream white, black and grey to create a highly atmospheric artwork with an essence of realism capturing a monochrome scene.
Made in Birmingham is a collection that not only reflects the artist's own identity and background, but also the nature of his invigorating artworks- some currently on a huge exciting display outside Birmingham New Street Station. From his memories of the school run to his time at university, two brand new limited edition artworks and a selection of originals draw upon the history of Birmingham and that of the artist.
For the artist's Summer 2021 release, he has mixed fictional scenes with historical research for four haunting new limited edition artworks. Like the smoky streets of Small Heath, where the gang ruled through violence and corruption, Jon's works are cloaked in shadow. The contrast between light and dark - also known as chiaroscuro - was recreated using the giclée printing process, which involves spraying microscopic dots of pigment-based ink to closely emulate the incredible detail of the original painting. Following this, the works were hand-embellished with a special combination of varnishes and gels to give them texture and depth.
As a teenager, Jon Jones was drawn to the darker side of history. Shunning playing football with his friends, he instead investigated his local pub in Kings Heath, Birmingham, where the landlord regaled historic tales of its use as a mortuary. This macabre curiosity is weaved into his newest collection of limited edition giclée on canvas prints, which depict the infamous Peaky Blinders gang.
Incorporating his research alongside the curator of the West Midlands Police Museum, his Autumn Winter 2020 series captures the murky underworld of the early 20th century. The monochromatic portraits are presented in striking dark frames, which elevate the shadows and add a haunting new dimension.
The relationship between art and film has a complex connection that stretches back to the dawn of cinema in the late 19th century. Captivating audiences and challenging norms, the two are tightly bound by their shared visual power, storytelling and use of both legacy techniques and new technology, meaning the notional bridge between the two mediums is regularly crossed. We explore the film-art crossover that has resulted in both still and moving masterpieces for over a century.
This year's Father's Day is on 16 June, so we've curated a special selection of artworks we think he'll love. We have something for everyone, whether they love sport, music, films, wildlife, food and drink or pretty much anything else, we've got a huge selection of pieces that he'll treasure forever.
The 50-metre installation depicts characters from the hit Peaky Blinders TV show. You can help us to raise money for Birmingham Children's Hospital by posting your photograph and tagging @castlegalleries with the hashtag #Brum4BCH.
The Office Bar & Restaurant in Dudley, West Midlands, is home to over 20 original and limited edition works by the Birmingham-based painter, whose atmospheric scenes capture the notorious criminal gang.
Dating back to the 12th century, this genre is associated with the spookiest night of the year. But with our twisted collection of artworks, you can enjoy the dark side all year round.
It may sound fancy, but this term simply refers to a popular printing technique used by painters, photographers and illustrators. Click to find out more.
Our dedicated team of art consultants is on hand to offer you tailored advice.
Join our mailing list for exclusive discounts, the latest art news, artist updates and more.
Enter a location to find your closest Castle Fine Art gallery.
Our dedicated team of art consultants is on hand to offer you tailored advice.
Speak to a consultantEnter a location to find your closest Castle Fine Art gallery.
Essential cookies enable core functionality such as page navigation. The website cannot function properly without these cookies; they can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.
Performance cookies help us to improve our website by collecting and reporting information on its usage (for example, which of our pages are most frequently visited).
We use third party cookies on our site to serve you with advertisements that we believe are relevant to you and your interests. You may see these advertisements on our site and on other sites that you visit.