EXTRACTS: The Art of Commando (illustrators special) © 2019 The Book Palace (144 PAGES in Full edition)

52 And that was it I started at the age of sixteen, I had to wait about another five weeks, but I started at sixteen. And I went in with a lot of other guys who were so old, a lot of these guys had served in the first war and they spent half their day sleeping. Well age brings that problem, as I’m starting to discover! I got many tips from these guys and I went to night school for life drawing classes for a year and a half and I got fed up with that. I came home one night and my mother was in her bed and my sister who was four years older than me, always asked the same question, “What have you been drawing tonight Gordon?”. Now this was one of the early occasions when I was drawing a nude female. You see? Now my mother who was paying the tuition fees of seven shillings and sixpence in old money, just about died when she saw this drawing of this lady recumbent on this couch in a state of nudity. My sister screamed when she saw it and rushed through to my mother’s bedroom shouting, “Mum, Mum see what Gordon’s been doing” Oh my God! So that was hastily thrown on top of the wardrobe and I was told. “Don’t do that again”. She wasn’t too happy about paying good money for her wee boy to be led astray! Interior art and cover painting for 'Nazi Nightmare'. The script by Commando regular Alan Hebden, cleverly combined elements of the Nazi death camps with the Manhattan Project and the suspenseful script was greatly enhanced by Livingstone's noir-tinged artwork. His skilful use of zipatone adding greatly to the atmosphere. OVERLEAF: A double page spread from 'RAF Commando' ( Commando 2599), showing Gordon's use of vertical panels, atmospheric lighting, strong staging and engaging characterisation to deliver a suspenseful confrontation.