Towards the end of the project I realised I wanted a physical object other than my prints and postcards. I had several ideas including a newspaper style publication which I thought I might screen print and do as two-sided fold-out posters, each focussing on a different day of racing. My images being differently produced would have presented a challenge to screen-printing however with the colour separation, and I was also wary of time constraints. In the end I decided to put together a book in Indesign.
The book structure came together quite easily. I had lots of drawings to look through (over 160 drawn at the racecourse) so had to select what I felt were the best drawings and those that contributed different things - subject matter and drawing technique being the main criteria. Rather than take a chronological approach I decided to focus each page or series of pages on a specific topic - the finish of a race, betting, ladies, etc. This gave a good flow and variety of drawings throughout the book; it also avoided repeating similar drawings. There are lots of drawings I would have liked to put in but I think the final selection is a good one.
I also felt some text was needed to put the drawings in context, so had to look back through the writing I had done through the year and adapt this for the book. I wrote a fairly long foreword explaining the project and some of the drawing considerations. I also came up with some headings to introduce each section.
Below is a selection of spreads from the book in it's current draft. N.B. the black section of the top is for marking out the paper size!
Below is a selection of spreads from the book in it's current draft. N.B. the black section of the top is for marking out the paper size!
