Eric Jones studied in Alfred University’s School of Art and
Design from 1995 to 1997, then started working as a graphic designer in Olean.
Over the years, he has expanded his graphic skills into caricature drawing and
now is owner of his own company, where he draws caricatures for everyone from
Hollywood celebrities to couples on their wedding days.
He's about to kick it up another notch.
Jones will appear on Halloween Wars, one of the most popular
reality shows hosted by The Food Network, in a series that begins Sept. 13.
Instead of drawing caricatures, he’ll be carving pumpkins freehand into scary
squash sculptures. He will be part of a
three-person team that includes a cake artist and a sugar/pastry artist. That
team will compete against five other teams for a hefty prize.
Halloween Wars pits teams of professional artists and chefs
against each other, designing and creating the scariest (or yummiest)
Halloween-themed treats. Six episodes of the competition will be broadcast each
Sunday leading up to Halloween.
Jones has carved pumpkins before on popular television shows
such as The Today Show, and, technically, he has already carved the pumpkins
for Halloween Wars. The competition has been taped; Jones says he cannot
comment on what he carved or the outcome of the contest.
He continues to draw caricatures of people, running his
company, Eric Jones Caricatures, from near Cuba, NY. He says he averages about
5,000 to 7,000 caricatures a year and estimates he has drawn more than 200,000
caricatures of individuals ranging from couples on their wedding days to
celebrities such as Ernest Borgnine and Billy Bob Thornton. He also is the
co-founder of Giveacaricature.com, which is based in Richburg, NY and was
launched in 2005 as part of Leading Edge Gifts LLC.