Interviewing Artists

As well as viewing Second World War art, background reading and referencing original artist war diaries, I also visited the locations that were important settings for the book, such as the National Portrait Gallery, the Imperial War Museum, the British Library. And also the physical locations in London that the characters inhabit: the bustling streets of Piccadilly, Paddington and Bayswater where I also once lived.

But Interviewing artists was key to understanding how Eleanor and Jack might have thought and worked and I was grateful to be able to talk to some contemporary artists who have worked as war artists more recently: Wendy Sharpe, Josh Yeldham and British Military artist David Rowlands. Australian artists Bronwyn Woodley and Dean Cross also talked generously about method, process and more generally, providing a great insight for a non-artist as well as specialist knowledge that helped build my characters.