When it comes to drawing out-of-this-world foliage, plants and creatures then nobody does it better than G.L. Nelson. I have been following his online comic ‘The Sargeant and Professor Skeary Winslow” for some time now. What first captured my attention about this masterpiece was the brilliantly drawn foliage and insects. In fact, Nelson draws these so well that is hard to believe that they are make-believe species.

Not only is his drawing very good but the colour work, shading and perspectives are all great too. The story line that is evolving is quite intriguing and there is plenty of action. Nelson does not confine himself to standard layout either but uses unique border shapes to add interest to his comic.

What is it about I hear you ask? The rugged and disciplined Sergeant Aloysius Ackerby and the unconventional professor Skeary Winslow are strangers to each other until they find themselves lost together in an alien dimension and caught up in action, adventure and intrigue.

I fully recommed you checking out his work at:
http://www.webcomicsnation.com/imagikraft/the_sergeant_and_skeary_winslow/series.php

You will not be dissapointed.

Okay, this is a slight aside to what I normally write about, that being cartoons and comics, however when I come across great illustrations I think it is worth giving them a mention. So here we go: When it comes to books about absent minded professor’s who invent zany contraptions then Professor Branestawm takes the cake. The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm was written by Norman Hunter and first published in 1933. The sequel to this was Professor Branestawm’s Treasure Hunt, published in 1937. Then Norman took a break from writing Professor Branestawm books until later in his life. In 1970 he published the third book The Peculiar Triumph of Professor Branestawm which was followed by another ten books, the last being published in 1983.

The characters and stories in these books are fantastic and I spent many days reading these books as a child. However, although the stories were great, it was in fact the illustrations that really caught my attention. The books were filled with drawings of the professor’s crazy inventions.

Different artists illustrated the books, however I believe the best drawings were those of W. Heath Robinson who was known for drawing fantastic rickety contraptions. In fact, The original book contained seventy-six illustrations by W. Heath Robinson.

I wish I had kept a full set of these novels, just so I could look back upon the great illustrations of contraptions and inventions. Other artists who illustrated the Professor Branestawm books, that I am aware of, were James Arnold, George Worsley Adamson and Derek Cousins.

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