Ollie & Quentin Book

Ollie & Quentin Book
125 pages in full colour!

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Best job in the world?





Could being a syndicated cartoonist be the best job in the world?

Thursdays are my ideas days, here's what I did today:

I packed a thermos flask of coffee, some water and sandwiches and set off, notebook in hand, on a ten mile walk through the beautiful Surrey countryside beside my home. It has been one of those rare but glorious British early summer days. Clear blue skies, birds singing, bluebells in the woods, gentle breeze in the air, sunlight dancing through the trees. Just fantastic.

I had lunch at the top of St. Martha's Hill next to the church (see above) overlooking miles of beautiful English hills. You can see eight counties from this spot. The location is said to have provided the inspiration for The Hill of Difficulty in The Pilgrim's Progress, going back to the time when John Bunyan lived in nearby Shalford. Winnie-the-Pooh artist, E H Shepard, frequented the spot and one of his drawings is in the church. It was a place of worship for pilgrims on their way to Canterbury, but pagans can marvel at four Druid circles on the south face.

I came home 6 hours later with a weeks worth of ideas down in my book and a tan on my neck.

Now, if I could make syndication pay me a living wage this would be the best job in the world.

3 comments:

arcticcircle said...

Couldn't agree more. Also on the things I hate to draw. I would add "cars, horses and any other animals whose legs seem to go in weird directions".

Sandra said...

Beautiful. I doubt if I would come up with six ideas though...that scenery and the peace would be too distracting.

Piers Baker said...

Alex, I'm with you on the cars and horses.

Sandra, I think it's the scenery and peace that I find inspiring.