"George"

Pencil and digital

A long time ago (about 10 years or so), I did a series of illustrations for a friend who had written a poem called The Coin-Groove Ghost. It's a wonderfully dark and imaginative tale about a character called George - a greedy, callous man who manages London's Royal Mint in the 1800s, and who uses a gang of demonic creatures to keep constant watch over his poorly paid and overworked staff. While George's fortune grows, the demons themselves become disgruntled because George refuses to reward them for their services, so in the end they plot his downfall by making him fall in love with Matilda, a thieving hag who robs George of his heart and all his money.

I did three pencil drawings at the time  - one of George, one of Matilda and one of the demons - and I always wanted to go back and do colour versions of them. George was always my favourite, so he's up first.