William J. Jewell was a social surrealist who worked primarily in pen and ink. He was a native of Portland, Oregon, but lived most of his life in San Francisco, California. His art had a certain existential edge to it, always dark, provoking thoughts of despair, tempered by humor. He was socially active with many members of the San Francisco Visionary Artists Group in the 1980's, but, in contrast, his worked focused on the foibles of mankind rather than the transcendence of them.
*Not to be confused with, William MacIntyre Jewell, 1904-1990.