Weaveworld Published!

The 25th Anniversary Edition of Weaveworld arrived last week. Opening a book that I have had the good fortune to contribute to is a moment I always anticipate with great excitement. Having spent a number of months working on the illustrations for Weaveworld I could hardly get the bubble-wrap off quick enough. These were not easy illustrations to render. Pointillism is a demanding technique but once I had seen these images in my minds eye, they couldn’t be unseen and they called for this technique. I wouldn’t change a thing.

The book is larger than a standard hardcover, giving it a nice weight in the hand and generous spacing for the typography and other interior design elements. The artwork is reproduced perfectly. Most of the illustrations are set in the page with a border, while two double page spreads are full bleed. The use of burgundy elements truly give the book a classic feel befitting a 25th anniversary edition of such a key work from Clive Barker’s oeuvre. I hope you enjoy these images, which give a sense of the finished project.

Having this book in hand brings a dream full circle. When the first edition came out I felt I’d found a book that married a fully realized fantasy with dark imagery that spoke to my aesthetic in a way few books had. My first impulse was a great desire to illustrate what I’d just read followed by the realization that it was unlikely to happen. If I’d been told then that 25 years later I would have that opportunity I wouldn’t have believed it! I’m glad it took 25 years. I am glad that the chance to work on this book coincided with my artistic ability to dialogue with Clive’s text in a way that I wouldn’t have been able to do 25 years ago.
Some opportunities are worth waiting for.

Thank you Clive for Weaveworld.

Thank you Paul for making this project possible.

Richard.