The lost art of Discworld
Simon A explains his involvement in the creation of some obscure Discworld art, and showcases the resulting drawings for your delectation and delight.
In 1993, after finishing my GCSEs, I spent part of the summer working for my stepfather Robin Drury’s graphic design firm, and I was lucky enough to be involved in the creation and commissioning of official illustrations of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld which have probably not been seen by anyone (outside my house, where a set of prints graces the walls) for many many years. I thought it would be interesting to shine a light on the drawings and the work that went in to them.
One of my stepfather’s clients was Clarecraft, responsible for producing official Discworld figurines. Bernard Pearson, who has gone on to enjoy a long association with Pratchett under the sobriquet of The Cunning Artificer, was the creative force behind these models, and he worked closely with Pratchett to get them right. Our main job was to create a catalogue of the models, and Robin decided we should commission an artist called Dan Pearce to create a set of illustrations in support of the main product photography. My job was to work out which scenes or settings matched up with the main groups of characters, and then to brief Dan on what to show in the drawings. Mainly, this meant I was being paid to read Discworld books all day and write bits down for Dan! I was in Discworld heaven…
Discarded image – first version of ‘View across the Ankh – Ankh-Morpork’ |
We saw sketches, and then we saw the final drawings, and I thought (and still think) they’re wonderful. They went off to Pratchett and Stephen Briggs for approval – and five of them were fine. However, for one drawing, that of the city of Ankh-Morpork, my briefing had been a bit remiss. I failed to mention the physical geography, so Dan drew it with mountains in the background, whereas any Discworld fan knows the city nestles on the flat, cabbage-rich Sto Plains. So one of the drawings had to be redone and the original of the first version, complete with mis-placed mountains, ended up on my wall at home, something truly unique as my 16th birthday present!
At the time (Lords and Ladies, the 14th Discworld novel, had just been published in paperback), the only source of Discworld visualisations was from the book covers, where the late Josh Kirby’s drawings, while capturing the anarchic spirit of the stories, sometimes gave the impression he hadn’t read the books (Twoflower actually has four eyes on the cover of The Light Fantastic), plus Bernard’s models. There were no graphic novels, TV movies, illustrated novels or anything else – so I think these are a lovely insight in to how the Discworld could have looked – and in many ways they are an accurate reflection of the kind of visuals we saw in The Hogfather and The Colour of Magic TV shows produced by Sky TV – especially The Shades and The Unseen University. Admittedly they’re not perfect – the dwarves in the tavern brawl are nowhere near how I now imagine a Discworld dwarf to be, for instance – but we had great fun doing them.
Click the thumbnails below to see enlarged versions of all seven drawings – the six final ones, plus the rejected version of Ankh-Morpork. Please note that I have had to watermark the images to prevent unauthorised reproduction.
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| ‘Street Scene – The Shades’
She had found them lodgings in the Shades, an ancient part of the city whose inhabitants were largely nocturnal and never inquired about one another’s business because curiousity not only killed the cat but threw it in the river with weights tied to its feet. Equal Rites |
‘A view of Unseen University’
The big doors swung back, revealing a wide courtyard surrounded by lawns. Behind them was a great rambling building, or buildings: it was hard to tell, because it didn’t look so much as if it had been designed as that a lot of buttresses, arches, towers, bridges, domes, cupolas and so forth had huddled together for warmth. “Is that it?” said Esk. “It looks sort of – melted.” Equal Rites |
‘View across the Ankh – Ankh-Morpork’
Poets long ago gave up trying to describe the city. Now the more cunning ones try to excuse it. They say, well, maybe it is smelly, maybe it is overcrowded, maybe it is a bit like Hell would be if they shut the fires off and stabled a herd of incontinent cows there for a year, but you have to admit that it is full of sheer, vibrant, dynamic life. Moving Pictures |
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| ‘Wizard’s Workshop’
Like all wizard’s workshops, the place looked as though a taxidermist had dropped his stock in a foundry and then had a fight with a maddened glassblower, braining a passing crocodile in the process (it hung from the rafters and smelt strongly of camphor). There were lamps and rings that Trymon itched to rub, and mirrors that looked as though they could repay a second glance. The Light Fantastic |
‘Holy Wood’
From the front, it was a fretted, carved, painted, ornate, baroque architectural extravaganza. In Ankh-Morpork, sensible men built their houses plain, so as not to attract attention, and kept the decoration for inside, but Holy Wood wore its houses inside out. Moving Pictures |
‘Tavern brawl’ featuring Captain Carrot
The fight was one of those enjoyable dwarfish fights with about a hundred participants and one hundred and fifty alliances. The screams, oaths and the ringing of axes on iron helmets mingled with the sounds of a drunken group by the fireplace who – another dwarfish custom – were singing about gold. Guards! Guards! |
We also commissioned a cover for the catalogue from Dan (see photo), and another image of Rincewind and Detritus – I can’t remember what this was for, possibly an advert or poster, but the only examples I have of it are from my 16th birthday and getting my GCSE results, as on both cases Robin adapted it as a personalised card. I wish I could remember what was in the speech bubble originally!
I hope you enjoy looking at these pictures as much as I enjoyed my role in their creation.
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