CANTERBURY TALES

Midway through 2008 I was contacted by Penguin (UK) and asked if I would like to do a set of ten graphite drawings for their new translation (Peter Ackroyd's re-telling) of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. For those who have never read it, Canterbury Tales really is truly magnificent—funny, bawdy, intelligent, deeply perceptive and 600 years old. I couldn't have lived with myself if I'd turned down the opportunity of being associated with the origins of English literature. I began by creating 2" high thumbnails for each of the chosen tales. From there I made full sized roughs and finally the ten pieces of finished art. I was also asked to create the cover for the book and it was agreed that I would produce a coloured version of the Man of Law's Tale. As often happens in publishing, marketing came back saying they wanted something brighter and more jaunty. So, changing direction from the internal art and switched to a 19th C. caricaturist style—the above is the final outcome.
NB