JJ's Ghetto Paintings - On the sitcom GOOD TIMES/CBS/1974-79 Jimmy Walker starred as James Evans, Jr. (J.J.), a young black artist who lived with his family in a tenement housing project in Chicago.   The paintings seen on the series, however, were actually painted by artist Ernie Barnes, a former AFL offensive guard whose street and sports influenced canvases have been displayed from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles. His talents made J.J. look like a ghetto Picasso. TRIVIA NOTE:  On NBC's top rated THE COSBY SHOW, Bill Cosby, the star of the show personally selected the works that decorated the TV studio set used as the Huxtable's fashionable New York brownstone; principally the works of Varnette Honeywood and Brenda Joysmith. Virtually overnight, African-American art had a huge commercial demand. The art work of Brenda Joysmith has been seen on other shows like A DIFFERENT WORLD, AMEN, FAMILY MATTERS, SINBAD, IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT, SPARKS, GOOD NEWS, THE GREGORY HINES SHOW, THE JAMIE FOXX SHOW, MALCOLM EDDIE, THE HUGHLEYS, and others as well as in such feature films as Philadelphia, Lethal Weapon III, Ghost Dad, House Party II, Jason's Lyric, A Family Thing and A Preacher's Wife.  

Episode	Show's dealing with JJ's Paintings
No. 2	"Black Jesus"  - JJ paints a portrait of Black Jesus (that resembles Ned the Wino) and soon a lucky streak hits the Evans family, but mother Florida Evans refuses to believe their good luck comes from the painting.
No. 13	"My Son the Lover" - A girl at school wants JJ to paint her picture and he mistakenly thinks her request means she's interested in him.
No. 29	"The Nude" - JJ is hired to paint the portrait of a nude woman (for her husband) - in the Evans apartment. Not surprisingly, his mother, Florida objects, and the painting ends up being done in a bathing suit.
No 49	"The Mural" - JJ is commissioned to paint a mural for a bank, but unsatisfied with the final mural,  they refuse to pay his $250 fee - money he needs to pay for Selma's college tuition.
No. 56	"Sweet Daddy Williams" - In exchange for his own art show display, JJ agrees to paint the girlfriend of local hood.
No. 64	"JJ & the Older Woman" - An older woman admires JJ's talent as a painter and soon pursues him romantically.
No. 131	"The Art Contest" - JJ forgets his own painting entry for a local competition and enlists the aide of Bookman to retrieve it for him. But Bookman takes the wrong painting and submits it as JJ's - who then wins the award.
No. 133	"The End of the Rainbow" - JJ gets offered a job with a comic company as a graphics illustrator.