Interesting Interview: Athelney Jones

Going through old issues of The Baker Street Journal will make you realize that Sherlockian fan art has been around for a long time.  (The BSI even sold a book of one a few years back.)  And when newer Sherlockians came to the hobby through the BBC's adaptation, we really saw an explosion of Sherlockian artists take to the internet.  So this week's Interesting Interview subject, Athelney Jones, is following along in an age old tradition.  As you'll see below, he's tackled adaptations from Ronald Howard to Sherlock & Co.  In fact, his art got him hired on as Sherlock & Co.'s social media manager, so there's hope for those of who still want to get paid to be Sherlockians...

At 221B Con this year, I was immediately impressed with Jones's knowledge of the Canon and so, so many media adaptations and how well they adapted the original stories.  While he showed off his scholarly side at every panel I saw him on, his dealer's table showed how much fun he had with the canonical characters.  Whether it was the BBC Baker Street Boys meeting Sherlock & Co.'s Sherlock and John while Rosie plays with Archie, or his own spin on Paget illustrations, Jones has a flair for the Sherlockian world!  (Of course his parents didn't actually name him after The Sign of Four character, that's just his online handle.)  I've included as much of his art as I could in this post without turning it into a gallery exhibit, but if you like what you see below, I strongly recommend checking out more of his stuff on Instagram and Tumblr.  I'll think you'll see below that if there are more people like Jones out there, the future of Sherlockiana is in good hands!

How do you define the word “Sherlockian”?

A Sherlockian is anyone who likes Holmes and Watson or the world within the stories, and has interest in exploring that through whatever medium they choose. If you want to be a Sherlockian, if you want to call yourself a Sherlockian, then I think you’re a Sherlockian. You actually wrote a great article about this last year that I really liked, and will point to here! Sherlockiana is an ever-evolving field and if we want to keep it alive we have to resist the urge to gatekeep. 

How did you become a Sherlockian?

BBC Sherlock fanfiction! BBC Sherlock was coming out when I was 14, at the time there were only 2 seasons. Obviously, I loved the show but what really kept me interested was the transformative work being created in online fandom. When the show lost its way, the fanart and fanfiction is what made me stick around. 

I read the canon when I got into BBC Sherlock, and since then have tried to watch as many adaptations as I can. I love to see how each time period changes the way people interpret these characters and stories, AND how each adaptation responds to those that came before it.

What is your profession and does that affect how you enjoy being a Sherlockian?

I’m an illustrator and graphic designer. Sherlock Holmes was kinda my muse growing up. I spent countless hours drawing him, and now that I’m older I’ve found a lot of work drawing him for other people. Also- I met Joel Emery through my fan art of Sherlock and Co. and now I work for the show! I got the job because I know most of the people in fandom, and always have my ear to the ground. So remember! Drawing gay fanart will get you places

What is your favorite canonical story?

This is a hard question if I had to choose ONE probably "Illustrious Client." It’s got everything: the campy, evil, slightly-xenophobic, Austrian villain, Holmes getting beaten up and Watson going all mother hen on him, great illustrations, a Turkish bath scene, Kitty Winter, Shinwell Johnson, someone’s face getting dissolved by acid, Watson failing a pop quiz on Chinese pottery. It’s fantastic!

Who is a specific Sherlockian that you think others would find interesting?

There’s a lot going on in Sherlockiana right now, I can’t name just one person, buuuut: 

Two big indie projects I’m watching are Beekeeper’s Picnic by Jabbage (who also runs Letters From Watson) and the zine project, Watson’s Sketchbook by Contact-Guy. Also a friend of mine, Inkonice recently contributed to the anthology project When the Rose Speaks its Name, which was the collaboration between a lot of artists and writers, so gotta shout that out too.

There’s lots of artists as well, but I’ll talk about that later.

What subset of Sherlockiana really interests you?

Probably Sherlockian illustration! One of my favorite pages on the internet is the illustration page on the ACD wiki, I just wish it went further than 1937. I love to compare different artists' rendition of the stories and look at their different styles. Some favorites are Robert Fawcett, Raymond Leon Pallier, Leo O'Mealia, and of course Dorr Steele. I’m such a Steele supremacist, I love his work on the later stories. His work on Bruce Partington and Blanched Soldier is crazy! I really wish there was a collection of his Sherlockian works like there is with Paget. I don’t think there is one.. If there is let me know, I’d scoop it up in a heartbeat.

On a similar note, fan art! I try to keep on top of who’s making interesting work and get to know them. Always hope that they stick around, and delve a little deeper into the community.

Who is an artist who has done Sherlockian work that you really enjoy?

Oh wow, so many. Contact-Guy for SURE! Their work on Watson’s Sketchbook is so inspiring, I highly recommend it. If you’ve somehow missed it.

Otherwise people doing canon-era work are: Nao (sunao555), Aydana (Aydana11918794), the incomparable Ghostbees, Gooolabatooo (gooolabatooo), and my buddys Eron (mustachecat212),  Minh (haedraulics), and Chris (Theantichris, who made a fantastic 70’s AU of canon).

There’s a lot of Sherlock and Co. and BBC artists that I admire too, but if I went into that I’d be here all week. Lots of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean artists are into BBC Sherlock and they make some crazy impressive work, even now!

A lot of your fan art focuses on Sherlock & Co., yet it's an audio drama that has never shared images of the characters.  How did you come up with your inspiration for Sherlock and John?

When I first listened to the podcast I had a really clear idea of what I wanted Sherlock to look like. There’s this illustration by thedrawingduke where Holmes and Watson are Dev Patel and Riz Ahmed. I saw that when I was young and it totally changed my brain chemistry. Since then, I’ve always really liked the idea of Holmes being Indian, so I decided to do that. Otherwise, I followed a canon-esque description: gaunt, tall, slender, bird-like, with the classic grey eyes and aquiline nose. 

John was actually a little harder, I knew I wanted him to look like an Average Joe, but didn’t know anything more specific than that. I’m not gonna lie, I googled “average white guy,” and picked the first couple of soft-faced white guys I saw to guide my drawings. Joel described my John as a bimbo once and I think that’s a pretty funny way to summarize his whole vibe. I’m not a fan of the ‘stupid Watson’ trope, but he kinda does look like a bimbo, doesn’t he.

"This is the first drawing I did for Sherlock & Co., even though they don't really look like this anymore, this was the original 'soft-faced white guy' Watson"

What book would you recommend to other Sherlockians?

Lyndsay Faye, definitely. Her stuff is incredible. Her interpretation has so much heart, and they feel so grounded in the Victorian world. The amount of research she does is really clear and every story has a little something special that keeps you engaged. And of course, I love her characterization of the boys, they feel so much like real people.

Where do you see Sherlockiana in 5 or 10 years from now?

Much the same, honestly? Interest in Sherlock Holmes is cyclical, it's not going anywhere, and I definitely see people my age and younger wanting to engage in it. The new wave doesn’t look much like the old wave, it’s the kind of people who’d be seen at 221bcon instead of a BSI dinner. They’re younger, gayer, more female and I think primarily interested in bringing a more diverse perspective to these stories. 

I think BBC Sherlock acted as a kind of barker- bringing a lot of young people into the community. But ultimately the show didn’t share the same priorities as the fans, and a lot of people left feeling like there was untapped potential in these stories.

Ironically, I feel that shows main contribution to Sherlockiana is that it left people feeling like Holmes and Watson should be a couple, and I think whatever good mainstream adaptation manages to do that first will probably blow up and bring in a lot of new people. I definitely think it’ll happen in the next 5-10 years.

In addition to queer readings, I think we’re in for a lot more women-centric readings of the canon, as well as interpretations that make Holmes and Watson people of color, or focus on characters who are people of color. Personally, I hope we also get some adaptations that break out of the Victorian-era- or even their roles as detectives! Now that House MD, BBC, Sherlock & Co have firmly broken the seal that Rathbone loosened on modern adaptations, I hope we get some even crazier stuff. Bring back Holmes on the holodeck!

"This is the piece I made to celebrate Sherlock Holmes entering the public domain in January 2023"