The above is The Defence of Rorke's Drift by Alphonse de Neuville painted in 1880.

This artwork is responsible for making me want to be an illustrator. I absolutely love it. I am fortunate in that my Grandmother owns an original etching reproduction of it and so I can see the work up close at any time (albeit in black and white). It is full of detail and drama.The painting was commissioned by the Fine Art Society. I do have a book somewhere that has further details but unfortunately I cannot find said book.

This painting made me study the history of Rorke’s Drift too and I can tell straight off the top of my head the battle took place on Wednesday 22nd January 1879. The regiment involved was the 24th; mainly 2nd battalion. The guns they were using were Martini-Henry MKII’s (.45 Calibre). There were only about 150 British soldiers defending against an estimated 4,500 Zulu warriors. I can even tell you the first defender to fire a shot was Private Fred Hitch; anyway, enough of my ramblings.

I do understand that my tastes are a bit old fashioned. I also have the book “The fundamentals of Illustration” by Lawrence Zeegen, and I flick through with very little actually appealing to me. I have to sit back and wonder that with all the human races advancements, why is that our artwork seems to suck? I’m not saying mine is super by any stretch, but I also have yet to see a contemporary illustrator that I actually admire; there is work I like but nothing I find inspiring.

The illustrations in the Games Workshop publications are good; some better than others. However, the problem I find with them is they are largely all the same thematically (generally they are full of action) and the ones that stand out are actually the ones where there is inaction. Increasingly they are making use of computer technology in their art which I feel is a shame for they have always been very traditional.