Cover image for Dublin Inquirer print edition #65

A ?successful cover illustration is one that looks good on the page and at the same time jumps off the page, literally leaves the page. As you draw and paint it you never know how and if you will ever manage to achieve that result, but this is what you try to do. And this is what illustrators do when they are in the process of making all their continuous adjustments, small or large.

Therefore to create an image is about achieving that sort of inner balance within the image itself. All the rest (interpretation, representation, of reality etc.) is probably not as important as we like to think. And the same is true possibly for dining and drinking outdoors in Dublin (incidentally the chosen subject, the pretext of my illustration).

Yes, the drink and the food are certainly important factors, but most of all they are the excuse (the pretext) to go out, to try to meet someone, and create & enjoy the perfect atmosphere of our town.  The success of a beautiful evening outdoors is something greater and more complex than our initial declarations of intent, much more than just some nice food and drink.