Closing drawing for PRECIOUS

Closing drawing for PRECIOUS
Finally, after about 17 years since the last drawing I did for “PRECIOUS_ A journey through life with water”, I have completed the closing drawing. Written on the page is the excerpt that inspired the project:
“How did he love this water, how did it delight him, how grateful was he to it! In his heart he heard the voice talking, which was newly awaking, and it told him: Love this water! Stay near it! Learn from it! Oh yes, he wanted to learn from it, he wanted to listen to it. He who would understand this water and its secrets, so it seemed to him, would also understand many other things, many secrets, all secrets. But out of all secrets of the river, he today only saw one, this one touched his soul. He saw: this water ran and ran, incessantly it ran, and was nevertheless always there, was always at all times the same and yet new in every moment! Great be he who would grasp this, understand this! He understood and grasped it not, only felt some idea of it stirring, a distant memory, divine voices.” Hermann Hesse – Siddhartha
THE MAKING OF PRECIOUS
38 pages of illustrations rendered by hand in coloured pencils and black ink.
They were done as they appear on a single sheet. They were all drawn purely by eye without the use of computers or tracing techniques. Original research for the images was done everywhere. Mostly done in libraries and the first 37 pages were all completed before I had Internet. Except for images based on my own photos or some of close crops, each individual image is built up from different sources of reference, sometimes three or four for one scene.
Precious began in Australia in 1991 with three pages done as a personal exercise in how realistically I could draw in coloured pencil. After worldwide travels bombarded by inspiration and much encouragement, I decided to make a book of it in 1994 after settling down in Amsterdam.
Using water as the common theme it has been an opportunity for me to study and draw as much of the life that exists around us as was possible or is necessary.
The illustrated pages and the first draft were completed by the new year of 2000.
My various attempts to promote Precious among publishers were rebuffed (though they were complimentary about it). They found it too general and unable to categorise. Despondent and pre-occupied with other projects, I put it aside.
It is now almost 2 decades later and the importance of water is as eternal as ever.
I believe now more than ever that water is the living plasma of the universe.
I hope to soon release a limited edition full-colour soft cover print run.
To see more visit the ILLUSTRATION section of my portfolio site: herronart.com