9 February 2012

What the Dickens?

Happy Birthday to you Mr Dickens. 200 years old. You've aged well.

I've never been so lucky as to illustrate a Dickens story. Funnily enough this week I had the urge! Dickens has been everywhere these past few months. I was really impressed with the BBC version of Great Expectations over Christmas (2011) and this week, the internet had a distinctly Dickensian feel with his 'trending' on Twitter and Google having a special Dickens design. I felt the urge to have a go. I set out to look for recent incarnations of Dickens characters by other illustrators, but found myself fairly low on images. I suppose this may be a product of the fact that unlike back in Dickens day when his books were highly illustrated - they aren't now (unless shortened versions for children). I can't help thinking this is a huge shame.

Anyway, here's my effort from Great Expectations. I haven't worked in black and white for a while and it was a real treat. I love a bit of history (even if the history is all made up).






Below are Dickens images that I really like. I'll always hold a torch for 'A Christmas Carol', as it was the first Dickens I read as my Dad loves the story and collects versions of the story on film. He consistently says that The Muppets Christmas Carol is one of the best!


A Christmas Carol

Fagin in his cell - Oliver Twist

Muppets Christmas Carol