Paul Kidby - Terry Pratchett’s Discworld Imaginarium

THE IMAGINARIUM OF PROFESSOR PRATCHETT ACRYLIC ON CANVAS 77cm 56cm 2017

Fantasy is an exercise bicycle for the mind. It might not take you anywhere, but it tones up the muscles that can.

Terry Pratchett

It was almost twenty-five years ago when I was first drawn to the literary cornucopia that is Terry Pratchetts Discworld. His richly-packed stories burst at the seams with a combination of wit, wisdom and unbound imagination which I found then, and now, an irresistible challenge to illustrate.

I always had a vivid minds eye, which was troublesome for the four-year-old me lying in bed at night convinced there were dinosaurs in the hallway. As an adult, I have been able to harness those imaginings and give them shape with my pencil and brush. Discovering the Discworld novels was exciting; I had found somebody to whose writing I instantly connected, who had also learnt to marshal his imagination and, although my medium was drawing, I felt our two disciplines stylistically complemented each other. Terrys novels are a gift to illustrators because his characters are descriptive without being prescriptive, leaving plenty of room for creative interpretation.

I find designing characters and creatures the hardest part of the artistic process but also the most fun. Its when ideas come together and I try to assemble them into order with my pencil. I dont produce countless rough sketches, I am more inclined to keep working on one drawing, putting in lines and taking them back out with my eraser until I am satisfied; I tell art students that getting it wrong is an important part of the process of getting it right.

My career path has not been an orthodox journey and I have no formal art training. On leaving school at seventeen I worked in a dental laboratory sculpting false teeth on a Youth Opportunity Program, which was the most creative job I could find. I then airbrushed and hand-painted roller blinds in a factory-studio before becoming a freelance commercial artist in 1986 creating greetings cards, graphics for videos and computer game packaging. During the early nineties I produced over 200 magazine covers and artwork for the likes of Games Master and SFX. Each step in my professional journey taught me new skills and I kept pushing myself to develop my craft (as I still do).

My drawings are created with simple tools: I use a well-sharpened pencil and a smooth white sheet of Bristol Board. When painting, I adopt a classical technique by working over my drawing to build up a tonal sepia under-painting; I then add colour in thin washes. I mostly paint in acrylics simply because they dry faster than oils, which is important in a profession ruled by deadlines. In the high-tech publishing industry my traditional methods might seem behind the times but I enjoy the process of drawing and painting, finding my chosen tools and materials are the best way to create my art. The benefit of this approach is that my originals can be exhibited, which gives museum and gallery visitors the opportunity to see the work in its own right, without book jacket text or any digital changes that might have been made in the publishers art department.

The two years since Terrys sad passing have been a time to reflect on all that he achieved. I have re-read many of his stories and looked back on our past collaborations with great fondness and huge gratitude for the opportunity he gave an unknown artist who handed an envelope of unsolicited drawings to him during a book signing in Bath all those years ago.

The Discworld Imaginarium is my tribute to Terry and a reflective celebration of his creative genius. I have selected some of my favourite artworks produced during our long association, from an early drawing of Rincewind to large set pieces such as Discworld Massif, which features a group of over seventy characters.

It also gives me great pleasure to include some newer works, celebrating Terrys ongoing legacy, that have been created since he passed away. Discworld will continue to inspire and delight readers old and new around the globe and while it does, the great man remains with us all through his writing.

No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away...

Paul Kidby

May 2017

GREAT ATUIN II ACRYLIC ON CANVAS 91.4cm 121.9cm 2013

DISCWORLD MASSIF SKETCH GRAPHITE ON PAPER 37cm 70cm 2014

DISCWORLD MASSIF (underpainting detail) ACRYLIC ON CANVAS 101.6cm 152.4cm 2014

DISCWORLD MASSIF ACRYLIC ON CANVAS 101.6cm 152.4cm 2014

TIFFANY ON THE CHALK ACRYLIC ON BOARD 74cm 51cm 2015

CHALKHILL BLUE BUTTERFLY GRAPHITE ON BOARD 20cm 20cm 2015

They call it the Chalk. Green downlands roll under the hot midsummer sun. From up here, the flocks of sheep, moving slowly, dri over the short turf like clouds on a green sky. Here and there sheepdogs speed over the turf like comets.

The Wee Free Men

When I read the first Tiffany Aching novel I felt an immediate affinity for the Chalk as described by Terry. Having lived on the Wiltshire downlands myself and walked many drove roads, I am familiar with all that he describes: leaping hare, buzzards riding the thermals and ancient burial mounds. We shared a love of the area of outstanding natural beauty that we lived in and it seemed to exert a creative energy for us both. Capturing aspects of this special landscape with pencil and paint was therefore a richly personal experience. Now, as I draw, I remember the conversations I had with Terry about gardening, folklore and recipes for nettle soup.

VIEW OF THE CHALK GRAPHITE ON BOARD 51cm 74cm 2017