New Project.

By project I mean a fairly long term thing, not just a new painting. My track record with this isn't great, I tend to do a few pictures, move on to something else, and not return to the 'project.' So we'll see how I get on. The concept is a graphic novel, or comic, if you like. The end product will be a book. I'll get it done by the people I've used to have some of my art books printed...they are really photo books. It's a personal thing for me and my family. It will be A4 portrait format. The subject will be me growing up in London after the war. I was born in 1940, don't remember the actual war, but picked up a lot of stuff from my extended family. I can only remember stuff from about 1946-7, but the after effects of war were still influencing our lives. I didn't realize this at the time, of course, everything was perfectly normal to me. If you know Raymond Briggs work, it'll be something in that vein, he's the master of this, so I can't hope to match what he does...if it's one tenth as good, I be happy. He created the SNOWMAN, WHEN THE WIND BLOWS, ERNEST AND ETHEL etc, a few have be made into movies. I intend to produce each 'panel' of the comic individually, rather than draw one whole page at a time. I'll assemble the pages in Photoshop, and add the text. I've done a few sketches to represent me at a age of roughly 8 or 9, just a generic type, I'm not getting bogged down in trying to do portraits...I'd get fed up with that. (I have no photos of me at that age anyway. I'm just trying to get into the swing of it with these quick drawings from my sketchbook. I've been dithering about this project for some time. It will take awhile, I'll have to do other stuff in between, and hope I'm still interested enough to go back to it. I've decided to do a few pages, and if I still think it viable, I'll carry on with it. (It's no big deal either way). I've done Page 1, a full page, and fairly easy to do. Already I have doubts...the old geezer is me. Maybe it's not cartoony enough. Not a great 'portrait' but close enough for my wife to say immediately 'That's you'. I may have another go, for now I'll leave it...I won't be appearing again at that age. So here's page 1. I intend to take the story up to the point where I 'grew up.' But as I won't finish doing that until a week next wednesday, I've decided to take it to the point where I got my first proper job...at age 16. I hope this is of some interest. Lew.

Thanks Margaret and Brian. I'm fairly relaxed about the number of pages. My starting point is 30. That's the minimum number with the photobook service I use. But you can add pages easily. This is one of those things where, as I'm sure you're aware, you can keep thinking of things. You chat with someone else in the family and something else surfaces. At the moment I'm thinking in 'sequences', and how do I present one particular part of the story. I'll have to be ruthless about what I include. But I'm not going to stint on pages for want of telling the story properly.

No Splosh, I'd rather not think about how long it will take. That might put me off. It'll take some time. At the moment I'm thinking do a page or two, then do something else and come back to it. I'm on page 2 now, that should be done in a couple of days. I've worked out the layout for page 2. The depth of the panels will mostly be about 7.5 cm, and I'll get three rows of panels on each page...although I'll vary that. Trouble is this is quite small for each panel, so I've been doing them TWICE the final size, and I'll scale them down in Photoshop to fit the final 21 x 28 cm size of the book. (A normal procedure in illustration). But, with my old shaky hands, I struggle working on even twice the size. Wobbly lines show up, so maybe I'll start doing them FOUR times the size. The panel below was drawn at 15 cm square (or 7 inches square in old money), I was a bit clumsy at that size...so I may do it again. (This will be the smallest size panel I'll use). Not quite finished, and, of course, it needs some text. Might have to do it again on a larger piece of paper.. I had to take my wife to the doctors yesterday...just routine checks...I knew we'd be at least an hour, so I took my A5 sketchbook. In fact they were quicker, so I only had time for a couple of sketches. Shown below are sketches for two kids that'll appear in the book. My mate Brian Green, a stooped-over kid with thick curly hair...I've got him about right. The girl, Ethel, I not sure about. She was a little dot with a mop of straight hair. Memory is a funny thing, I don't have a clear picture of her at this age, but I know the sketch isn't quite right. It's not desperately important, I'm not drawing 'portraits'...so she might change by the time she goes in the book. Thanks to all for your comments and encouragement. Lew

Thanks Tessa and Marjorie. I don't have class photos, Marjorie. I have photos of me as a baby, at age 5, and at age 9. For clothing etc, I'm largely going by these old family pics. The Internet has masses of course. But I don't want to get locked into an 'exact' historical representation, I'm just trying to get the 'feel' of those days. In fact,'those days' feel like another life now.

Thanks Alan and Carol. Jim, I remember snake belts, I'm assuming you mean those with a snake-like buckle. I think most of the boys I knew had them...me included.

Ah yes Sylvia, I remember knitted swimsuits. Mum knitted me a pair, part of the design was a knitted belt. I remember wearing them on a day trip to Ramsgate, and coming out of the sea gripping onto them for dear life...they'd stretched from my waist to the ankles.

Had to take Jean to the dentist this morning. A different kind of waiting room at least, she wasn't long but I had time for this quick sketch. It's one of my childhood mates. I can't remember his name, he played with us when we were 6 or 7 (often on bombsites), then his family moved away. By one of the quirks of memory, I can recall his trousers (and his pimples). I think his Mum made them, the trousers that is, the pimples were his own creation.. I found out in later years the Government issued a lot of 'make-do-and-mend' leaflets, make new clothes from old...something like that. The trousers had permanent cloth braces, sewn on at the back, and buttoned at the front. They were horrible, I'm glad my Mum didn't latch onto the idea. I've given him a gun. A couple of nails and two bits of wood...toys were in short supply back then. He always had short hair...again his Mum cut it, using a tin bowl. The barber near our school did the same for kids...maybe what Jim was referring to. It's raining down here, so maybe I'll finish the last of five drawings for page 2 of my saga. Lew.