EXTRACTS: Don Lawrence Art (illustrators special) © 2018 The Book Palace (144 PAGES in Full edition)

In the resulting film, his brow furrowed, Lawrence ponders over how to light the picture: “On the gold figurine I have a light source striking from this point,” he says, tapping a point towards the top right of the page where he has drawn a circle with an arrow through i t , indicating the direction of the light. “But I had previously, on him—” using his pencil to indicate the main figure—“had the light source coming from here”— the sharpened pencil tip circles a small area at the top left of the page—“with the light catching here and along the edge here.” He allows the pencil to hover over the helmet and glide down the figure’s shoulder. Changing the light source would mean that the statuette held by the raider would now cast a shadow, Lawrence explains. An alternative, he says, might be to use two light sources of different colours. He has already decided that the background will be blood red dripping down probably a wall, so perhaps the left side of the figure’s helmet would be bathed in reflected red light, leaving the front in natural light; or maybe there could be one red light source coming in from the right. “I haven’t made up my mind,” he says, tapping the circle with the arrow. That light source from the right would cast a shadow leaving the area below the figure’s helmet in darkness, “which is a big rethink on the way I had originally planned it,” says Lawrence. “I’ve got to try and visualise how it will look like, so I’ll have to hold it up and stand back.” As he stands up, the ash drops from the cigarette onto the drawing and Lawrence brushes it away impatiently with his hand. The artwork eventually appeared on the cover of a book entitled ‘De Wraak Van Een Vriend’—Revenge of a Friend—and later as a signed, limited edition lithograph with the more fitting title ‘Red Revenge’. Watching Lawrence go through this process makes the viewer realise just how much thought and perseverance must have gone into every page—every 6 © Don Lawrence Collection/Stripwinkel Sjors