Looking Peakey

A some point I promise this blog will actually relate to my day-job as an illustrator, rather than conveying the impression that I’m no more than an occasional hobbying life-drawer. Unfortunately, none of my recent output can be posted prior to publication / launch so that will have to wait for a few weeks yet.

In the meantime, here are a few pics from Tuesday night’s Gormenghast-themed drawing session at TOM, staged as ever by Jake Spicer and the Draw gang. It also served as this month’s Brighton Illustrators’ Group meeting so there were several familiar faces there (as well as a few notable absentees!).

I was introduced to the Gormenghast books while I was at Art College, by none other than the great Raymond Briggs (of Snowman fame), who was my tutor there. He had known the author, Mervyn Peake, at Central School of Art, by which time he was already in the grip of Parkinson’s disease and well into his untimely decline. If there was any justice, the Gormenghast trilogy, or at least the first two books Titus Groan & Gormenghast (there is some doubt as to the exact provenance of the third book, Titus Alone) would be as well-known and loved as anything be Tolkien or Lewis Carroll. The writing has an incredibly vivid, visual quality that makes the characters leap off the page and leaves whole scenes permanently imprinted on your memory. I remember Briggs seeming genuinely appalled that I’d not read them already. He was right, they should be on the National Curriculum and it goes without saying they’re an absolute gift to any art student.

My output from the session was a scattergun mix of small pen drawings and further iPad trials (I still view these as a work in progress). Thanks again to everyone involved in putting on another excellent event.

(Click on any image to enlarge)

Made on the iPad with Procreate app.

Made on the iPad with Adobe Ideas.