Yesterday I was trying to find some photos to use as guides for my graphic novel. I had tidied my studio a while back, and knew these images were somewhere. I sorted through my piles of sketch pads in the cupboard, in my desk drawers, the wooden trunk in the lounge, and back through the cupboard again. I found other, probably more exciting finds in there, related to illustrating work I did some years back. So, rather than some current sketches today, I thought I’d show you some oldies.
A few months back I was in Dunedin, and visited their very good public art gallery. I was thrilled to find an exhibition of works by New Zealander Frances Hodgkins I’d not seen before which were all completed in England. She was in London in 1939 at the start of the war, and for safety reasons I imagine moved to the Dorset countryside. She lived in Corfe Castle village on the south-west peninsula, where she remained until 1945. She was able to move a little between the small villages, and set up a small studio in nearby Croft. Because of the war-time restrictions foisted upon her, she set about documenting the rural life of small villages and communities in her paintings. She was often forced to stay indoors, whether through atrocious weather, or air raids and coastal gunfire. It is testament to the dedication she gave to her art practice that she was able to work under such conditions.
Yes, a continuation of the sea creatures I illustrated for the Save Our Seas book I wrote about three posts back. To recap, I was asked to sketch cartoon characters, paint small scenes, draw a myriad of sea creatures, and a few coastal scenes.I have chosen not to put all the remaining images in here, as it would make the post too long, but I hope you like the cross-section of artwork I’ve selected for this one.
Some years back, and before writing took hold of me, I illustrated several children books. One was Save Our Seas, by author Maria Gill, who tells a story about the marine environment in New Zealand, based on logbooks from Sir Peter Blake’s New Zealand voyages. I was especially pleased to be asked to illustrate this book, as I love wildlife. And I had around fifty separate illustrations to do.
