11 Comments

Wow, that guy can DRAW!

Expand full comment

...and tell a great story.

Expand full comment

These illustrations are stunning!

Expand full comment

Mesmerizing to see! The ink sketches are so vibrant, and then the crocodile stopped me in my tracks. What a treasure trove.

Expand full comment

A nice introduction, Bill. Thank you. I fell in love with the sketchbooks of such adventurers when I first saw Delacroix’s journal of his visit to Morocco. There is a wonderful book—Explorers’ Sketchbooks compiled by Huw Lewis-Jones and Karl Herbert—that gives readers a good taste of this genre. Good post!

Expand full comment

Beautiful drawings. A couple made me think of Ralph Steadman's brushwork.

Expand full comment

Yeah I picture Hodgkinson propped up in his dugout canoe feverishly sketching away in his journal and dipping his brush into the muddy river.

Expand full comment

Frank Hodgkinson's journey looks like he entered into the soul of the Sepik people. I like his lively wash sketches of their dwellings too. His curiosity was large!

Expand full comment

For sure. I think Hodgkinson appreciated how in touch with their primal soul the Sepik people were.

Expand full comment

Wonderful article, Bill. Have you seen the journals of climber and illustrator Jeremy Collins? They would make a wonderful feature.

Expand full comment

Thanks Sterling. I'll check out Jeremy's work.

Expand full comment