I thought of it as something like a PhD project, so the same questions of managing a life apply here – to work on a large, unpredictable and unpaying project for many years is not an unfamiliar thing for many people. Previously I had been accustomed to working on shorter picture books, which each took me about a year (which felt long) so yes, The Arrival was a big leap. I tend to discuss concepts quite early on with a publisher, largely because illustrated fiction is costly to produce and is not assured of having a wide audience. It is a big risk: and not something I would have committed to blindly. Years of research, modelling, sketching and storyboarding went into making I’m also interested in sharing working methods and any insights learned along the way with other artists, given that I’ve drawn from the work of so many other people myself. The published book is just a final part of a much longer creative process, which I think is worth seeing. I think it’s also good to appreciate the fundamental simplicity of The Arrival, that it’s a book of ideas more than anything else, and rendered using the most basic medium of pencil on paper. In fact, a large part of the appeal of painting and drawing is to do with the visibility of process, all the lines, paint blobs and material facts of creation are exposed. Not really – I don’t think being an artist is the same as being a magician. Are you worried you’ve given the game away by revealing your trade secrets?
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