I was first hooked by the story of the British Antarctic Expedition (1910-1913) when I heard the dramatisation of Apsley Cherry-Garrard's book on Radio 4. For a long time my heart belonged to the radio play, until I finally read the book and discovered that not only was there so much more to the story but all the people involved really were as wonderful as the play made them out to be. Then there was no turning back, much to the chagrin of the folks who'd rather I draw Harry Potter.

Drawings are in roughly chronological order by date of creation. Sticklers for accuracy may want to find their smelling salts now because most of them were drawn in meetings and dark corners without recourse to photo reference ...

Manhauling - All expeditions that include the use of heavy outerwear and googles automatically revert to Mignola style. (This is the image I used for that snazzy title graphic, only bigger.)
Conversations with Cherry (I) - Obsessive relistening to the radio play brought welcome vicarious adventure and catharsis but also feelings of guilt for deriving so much enjoyment from a true story of tremendous suffering and loss.
Conversations with Cherry (II) - Shortly after getting hooked on the play I learned Mr Cherry-Garrard's full nancy posh boy name. I wonder if anyone ever teased him about it ...
Conversations with Cherry (III) - Schadenfreudian guilt aside, I kept coming back for more. (... and part 2)
I Should Like a Receipt - One of those heart-wrenching moments, captured so well in the TV dramatisation, when Cherry brings the hard-won penguin eggs to the Natural History Museum. Apparently there is some doubt as to whether this actually happened this way, but I love the scene regardless.
Cherry's Cargo - A recording of Mark Gatiss' TV docudrama came in the same week as his documentary on Doctor Who novelisations aired on Radio 4, prompting an inevitable crossover. I got a bit carried away with the painting.
Bottled - Trader Joe's carries a juice they call 'Just Cherry.' I was sleep deprived.
Conversations with Cherry (IV) - After finishing a project at work, they had to let about half the crew go. One day we all found out who would be kept on and who was leaving. The comparison was inevitable; no word yet on whether it will have similarly tragic consequences.
Requiem in Wheathampstead - I went to London in 2009 and made a day trip out to Wheathampstead, because stalking Mr Cherry-Garrard in my imagination quite simply wasn't good enough. I mean, um, I wanted to pay my respects to the person who introduced me (and countless others) to this amazing story. Obviously.
Great God! This is an Awful Place - Amundsen left a letter at the Pole for Scott to send to the king of Norway to corroborate his antecedence. This was bemusing to me, that a man could realistically expect his defeated rival to voluntarily go through the hassle of proclaiming his loss, and that said rival would actually do so rather than mutter a bitter 'screw you' and take no action at all. So of course I made a comic out of it.
Bill Tends to a Grouse - As I got more deeply into the expedition and learned more about other members of the party, it became increasingly clear that Dr Edward A. Wilson was the most wonderful person who ever lived. Before the Terra Nova expedition, he was investigating diseases of the grouse in Scotland (which has little to do with his wonderfulness but does explain the drawing). Aside from being wonderful, he's also really easy to draw ...
The Birds'-Nesters: Cherry, Bill, and Birdie - drawn a long way from photo reference
Cherry Doodles - Indisputable proof I need to concentrate more at work; these were drawn on the exposure sheet of the scene I was supposed to be working on. I'm trying to find a design that emphasises his youth and naivete but still looks like him ... photo reference, again, would probably help.
Clues from the Orchestra - There was a 1950s American radio adaptation of Scott's final journal entries where every entry was separated by a menacing dramatic chord.

 

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