Urbandale Illustrator Builds Freelance Career Over Nearly Thirty Years

Sometime between 5 and 5:30 a.m., Buck Jones rises out of bed and goes into his office in the basement of his Urbandale house.

"That's when it's quiet," Jones says.

He has no routine for those early morning hours. Some days he pencils T-shirt designs. Other days he pencils political cartoons and greeting cards. Sometimes he creates sketches of felines that will amuse readers of "Cat Fancy" magazine.

In the afternoon he works out, runs errands and has dinner with his wife, Kim. Then it's literally back to the drawing board for another few hours, until he goes to bed at around 10 or 11 p.m.

Jones works long hours because, as freelance illustrator and cartoonist, he has to. But he's used to that kind of life — he's been living — and loving — it since 1985.

First sketches

Jones was raised as a self-described "Air Force brat," frequently moving around every two years. His father, who was a "good doodler," helped get him drawing at a young age, and Jones quickly developed a talent.

"Cartooning was a good way to make friends," Jones recalls. "It was my passion. I always tell my kids that I think it's cool that I can enjoy at (the age of) five something I'm still enjoying as much at 51 now."

He started freelancing full time from his home in 1985. He works from job to job, covering editorial and political cartoons, T-shirt designs, greeting cards, magazine illustrations and quite a bit of pet drawings.

Jones says his favorite projects are the ones he collaborates on with his wife, who has been freelancing as an art director and graphic designer since 1994. He joined the National Cartoonists Society in 1988, which he described as being part of "the gold standard."

Illustrations from several of Jones's favorite cartoonists line the walls of his office, often with personalized captions directed at Jones.

"It's such a small market that we should all be very competitive with each other," Jones said. "But you won't find a better group of people that are willing to help."

Changing colors

Jones still keeps a set of colored markers behind his desk, but he says that he doesn't use them very often anymore.

"When I started in 1985, computers were new on the scene," Jones said. "And now it's changed everything. And I'm not very computer savvy, and it's just been a struggle for this old boy."

Yet the most significant changes to Jones's business have lately been economic rather than technical. Jones said that he's taken a tremendous hit in the last few years as the market for his work shrank during the recession.

"Some of the books I wrote for disappeared," Jones said. "Some of the magazines folded."

He hasn't taken the hit lying down. In 2009, he and his wife founded a website featuring some of his best animal-related work for sale, PetCartoonGifts.com. Jones provides custom drawings for people of pets, and typically does good business around Christmas.

"Everybody's taking a hit," Jones said. "The price tag we're getting now is the price we might've gotten 20 years ago. ... It's just a tough adjustment. You're doing a lot more work for (less)."