One of the jobs I've been working on recently is preparing the artwork and all the printed material for the Followers of Rupert Annual event that takes place each summer. Last year I posted up a couple of features about the work for the 2011 Annual and you can catch up with Part 1 and Part 2 - but to avoid too much repetition I'm just going to include some of the artwork stages this time and you can click on the pictures to enlarge…
The 2012 theme was again chosen by Tony Griffin the Annual organiser. One of his favourite Rupert characters is the Gooseberry Fool, rather an obscure and mischievous chap first featured in the 1951 annual. For the first piece of artwork I adapted the story's title page, introducing Rupert into the frame and enlarging the Fool. I particularly love the overall 'gooseberry' shape of the design used here...
For the second piece of artwork I took the end-sheets from the 1951 annual (a really lovely sepia watercolour drawn by Alfred Bestall) and placed Rupert and the GF into a coloured version, looking out across the lake at the cloud castles, with the Imps of Spring close by. I love the gnarled tree trunk with the secret door leading to another world...
As I've mentioned before I only draw Rupert once a year, and then just copy and re-jig existing Alfred Bestall illustrations to suit the new purpose. I start by working out rough sketches for the new designs - they're not exact copies as I alter and move various elements to fit the new A4 formats, plus leave space for headings & text.
These pieces of artwork will be used for all the printed matter for this weekend event - from badges and T-shirts, to programmes, menu cards, committee badges, lunch tickets and posters.
One of the enjoyable aspects to the job is the calligraphy - the badge and place names are all handwritten! I don't have much call to do this nowadays, but it was part of my training. It's lovely to have the chance to use my old pens, even though I need several days of practice to get the eye, hand & pen co-ordination flowing as freely as I'd like….
... and haven't some people got such interesting names!
I do hope they all have a wonderful time at the 2012 Annual at the end of the month!
The brand NEW Rupert Bear website was launched at the end of August, where you can find out more about the Followers, and lots more Ruperty info. Follow this link...
The brand NEW Rupert Bear website was launched at the end of August, where you can find out more about the Followers, and lots more Ruperty info. Follow this link...