Illustrations
PS
My lovely friend from university and revue days, Dave Edwards, became a science teacher in Leeds, and in the early nineties he was involved in producing a series of text books for use in secondary schools. They were looking for an affordable illustrator to provide pictures and diagrams, he remembered some of the show posters I had designed in Oxford, and long story short, for a couple of years I was able to make a happy living providing black and white line drawings for these work books. I had no knowledge of or even interest in science, and anything I learned during the process has long been forgotten – all ironic now considering my son went on to gain a doctorate in organic chemistry at UCL. Must have got it from his mother. What I do remember most about these drawings now is that I was able to put anything on the CD player and enjoy it as I worked. When writing, I can’t compete with lyrics. I might occasionally have a bit of Rachmaninov or Mahler or Satie playing quietly in the background, but sometimes even that goes off when I really have to concentrate. When drawing, though, you can even have words. I nodded along to Yes and ELP and Genesis. I got CDs of musicals out of the library – Mack and Mabel, Oklahoma!, Guys and Dolls. But my absolute favourite from this period, I remember, was Dylan Thomas’s radio drama Under Milk Wood, the Richard Burton recording. Played it endlessly on repeat, and for a while “Donkeys angelically drowse on Donkey Down” became my mantra, right up there with “Broadsword calling Danny Boy…”