Notes from the Studio

In mid-October, Bloomsbury will be publishing a collection of Susanna Clarke’s short stories, ‘The Ladies of Grace Adieu’ which will contain almost 20 illustrations by myself. I was thrilled when asked to contribute to this book as I’ve long been a fan of Susanna’s writing and knew that it would bring out the very best in my art. However the due date was tight and even with a great deal of deadline manipulation on the publishers part (thanks to the the redoubtable Polly Napper!) and all my good intentions 5 planned for illustrations were never completed, much to my sorrow. So here’s a taste of some of what I did manage to finish… And here’s my initial sketch for the same: Each of the 8 stories have their own full page illustration as well as its own illumunated as well as hand lettered title page design. Then there are the fun extras that I like to include in any book. Here are a few of my interior illustrations accompanied by its pencil sketch. As you can see I reversed the density of the foreground and background in the inking stage. That hedgerow just seemed to call out for some texture.