N16 - bio auto graphic Number 23 - third peek

The value of a sketchbook traditionally - at least for me, and it's how I've worked whether as a professional illustrator or storyboard artist - lies in the record it holds of the journey forward towards a final idea.
The evidence is there. No delete button. It stands. 
You can look back at what didn't work - after the pain subsides - and this helps you understand the necessity for failure on the way to a hopefully more satisfying final version of something.
Successive iterations are vital.

The myth of the 'creative spark', the revelatory 'Eureka!' moment is largely that.
Hard graft sounds less sexy, but is a familiar companion to anybody who makes a genuine living from being creative.

Sometimes there are plenty of notions (and in this case I'm talking about ideas that are a conflation of words and image) that just don't quite make it, even if I quite like their look or message.
Along the evolutionary road of creative work it's quite easy - indeed desirable - to be open to a sudden change of direction, so things get left behind.

My latest considers notions of the diminishment of self - achieved by walking and diet, in my case.
Added to my usual agenda of gently pointing out to the reader how everything links up. . .

Here is a thumbnail that didn't quite go anywhere.

N16 - bio auto graphic Number 23 - second bite

My sketchbook for this edition so far stands at over 50 pages of plotting, writing, drawing (it is a sketchbook after all) - and over 130 photos that I took as I returned along the same route a second time.
Here I am breaking down the beginning of my journey in Stoke Newington, London N16 into a thumbnail for the inside cover and first page proper.
My process was thus:
Take the 1st walk on Saturday June 8th - think about what happened - chart it on Google Map and take screensnaps for a visual record - write and draw - nail exactly the page-count (it fell nicely into 14 pages covering the journey, within front and back covers to give a full 16 pages) - write and draw more - finally take the same walk again on Saturday July 20th - this time with camera at the ready.
Then - repeat the thinking, writing, drawing process.

Click on any of these images and they'll get bigger, if you're a detail freak (I know I am).

Ensixteen Editions - bio auto graphic Number 23 - taster 1

It's been some time in the making, over what's been a Summer full of the unexpected - and not all in a good way - but finally the next of my series is about to be finished, ready for launching at the 2013 London Art Book Fair next weekend, at the Whitechapel Gallery (more of which in other nearby posts and also on their own website www.londonartbookfair.org).

This is the first of a small selection of glimpses into my sketchbook.
They'll obviously be in reverse order as I blog them here.

Stenbjerg beach, National Park of Thy, Jutland - August 2013

Our second break of the Summer, and back to walk the wonderful welcoming beaches and woodlands of this underrated part of the world. Natural inspiration under our feet with every step.

St.Ives - July 2013

Some fond memories stacked up from the wonderful Cornish West, in company of my beautiful Dane, Mette Ambeck. Rest and Recuperation, the very essence of. . .

This last image captures our reward after arduous miles along the Western Coastal from the town on our first full day - truly a good Friday. Crab sandwiches at the Tinner's Arms, in the village of Zennor, with a pint each of Zennor Mermaid. 

Mister Higson's 'The Enemy Map' - latest update

There may be visitors who are straying this way having glimpsed an enticing miniature of my illustrated map to accompany Charlie Higson's 'The Enemy' series of young adult horror novels - on the revamped site by Puffin Books - and wondering what's that all about?

CH commissioned me last year to chart the adventures of the various groups in the initial four books in the series, and there is indeed a map of this description.
In due course the Powers That Be at Puffin hope to expand the glimpse of the Map at their site into something more substantial and interactive - and Charlie hopes to make the item available to fans, too.

I'd recommend you check out the earlier posts I put up on this blog (go back to the later part of last year starting in October) to see some intriguing details – as well as what I've added here – and also keep checking Charlie's own blog - and the Puffin site - for any developments.

A noble Endeavour

Just a tip of the hat to what has been an mostly excellent first full run of the Inspector Morse prequel series, 'Endeavour'.
What seemed an idea too far (a misguided attempt to cash in on what ITV no doubt considers a franchise, as the sequel series 'Lewis' seems likely to have reached its end) has evolved over the recent four stories into something strangely fresh and atmospheric and oddly modern – beginning with its bold, one-word episode titles – despite its setting in the early days of the character's police career in mid-1960s Oxford. It has stylish direction, memorable characters – both presenting young versions of a select band of the established ones from the later series and splendid new additions like Morse's pipe-smoking mentor Inspector Fred Thursday, played with relish by Roger Allam. Creator Russell Lewis – no relation, shurely? – has crafted a strong format with wit and weight in the writing.
And the most crucial element of all: what lead actor Shaun Evans does is very interesting – it's not an impression of John Thaw in any way – a curiously effective suggestion of what a person could be like if you strip away the years. It could all have fallen at the first hurdle without him, and luckily he's damn good.
Here's a raised glass of a suitably dark, cask-drawn ale to more.