Duncan Fegredo's sketchbook arrived this morning, about 10 days after ordering it from CafePress. That's pretty good for a transatlantic sale, and it arrived in a sturdy rigibag easily the equal of the type used by those other U.S. masters of the bomb-proof packing, Mile High Comics and Bud Plant. It's a hell of a lot better value for money than your average artist's sketchbook - normally, they're a thin volume with a few poster-style images of some fan favourite corporate trademarks. I've shelled out for a few by some of my favourite artists, and usually they're disappointing. In this case, however, for a similar price, you get a hell of a lot more bang for your buck. And it's a hell of an insight into the workings of the artist: a peek over his shoulder as he experiments with various materials, his line and his technique. A little game of spot-the-preparatory sketch can be played at times (a little GIRL here, a little BOOKS OF MAGIC there, a couple of little rapidographed Dredds); and there's some very telling portraits of fellow professionals, including frequent collaborators Sean Phillips and Pete Milligan, plus Grant Morrison (with a pre-King Mob full head of hair).
Enough yakkin' - time to go over to Fegredo's CafePress shop and just bloomin' buy it! And then, head over to Sean Phillips' newly updated website, where you can see such smashing images as this 'un, taken from the forthcoming Image book INTERSECTIONS, featuring a compendium of groovy art by both the scamps.
