Ernie Jones was born in Sumpter, South Carolina, and at age 3 moved to the suburbs of Washington D.C. He lived in Alexandria, Virginia, where he attended Mount Vernon High School. He began his art education in high school, and after graduation joined the United States Air Force. While serving in the Air Force, he studied art through the correspondence school, Famous Artists School of Westport Connecticut, which helped him attained the position of Squadron Illustrator and Draftsman. After the Air Force, he attended Northern Virginia Community College where he studied art under the guidance of Ms. Rhea Locke.

Ernie’s current artistic focus is on Southern California – and Newport Beach in particular. He enjoys painting interesting and historical sights up and down Southern California’s coastline – a prime area for artistic interpretation. “My favorite media are oils and acrylics, and I like using strong, rich colors in my work.” Ernie enjoys painting water scenes and likes to bring the vibrant colors of the sky reflecting into the water. One can almost feel the coolness of the water and may get a sense of tides movement when looking at his paintings. His attention to detail is seen in each painting and can give one a sense of “being there.” He likes to work from several photos of the subject, incorporating the elements he wants into his paintings. In some cases, he has a background theme for the painting – and other times he just likes the subject. For example, in “Coming In” he portrays a boat sailing into calmer waters after a storm – representing someone coming through tough times and seeing better days ahead. He has captured forever a scene of his grandchildren at Christmastime, and has painted a scene from his favorite band the “Eagles” in concert. Ernie also has done commissioned work with requests coming in from people who want a particular event, scene or even their home preserved in a work of art.

Visit Ernie's website.