EXTRACTS: Illustrators Issue 4 © 2013 The Book Palace (96 PAGES in Full edition)

80 ABOVE: One of Wood’s working drawings form the 1930s, unveiling the mysteries of a ‘Magic Lantern Show’. FACING PAGE: Three more of Wood’s covers for Modern Wonder where his ability to provide enticing colour, to add further clarity to his dissections of machinery, really came to the fore. would serve him so well in his artistic career was gained at the premises of Fairey Aviation, at Hayes in West London. Fairey’s speciality was in the design and production of naval aircraft, a relatively recent innovation, but one which would prove crucial some twenty years later when Britain was again plunged into war, and carrier-borne aircraft such as Fairey’s Swordfish biplane bomber, were a vital part of the Royal Navy’s arsenal. Wood’s work at Fairey Aviation soon required him to devote his energies to preparing working drawings of every element that the company was fashioning for it’s aircraft, and with the requirement for accuracy and clarity underscoring all of Wood’s output, he rapidly absorbed all the disciplines that would later inform his illustration. Whereas illustrators, with a traditional art college training, would make a guesstimate by eye when depicting an object, Wood’s perception was shaped by the production process required of all technical draughtsmen engaged in the production of working drawings. This involved drawing the object from different angles, as well as an isometric projection from the calculations involved, to create a 3D impression on the page. No guesswork was involved,