THE BIBLICAL ART OF JACK HAYES...

Don't panic you lot, you're not about to get a BIBLE

lesson.  Here's the deal.  Back around 1971 (certainly no

earlier than 1970), my mother took me to the shops one day

after school and bought me 'The Good Book'.  I no longer

remember exactly what became of it, but I do recall in-

advertently inflicting some damage to the cover under

the dustjacket, which bothered me somewhat.

A few years later, in 1977 (no later than '78), I saw

its double in another local bookshop and, purely out of a

sense of nostalgia, bought it for myself.  I'd always been fas-

cinated by the interior illustrations by JACK HAYES, a very

talented artist.  In my original copy, there was a note on the

inside of the dustjacket which said that a new process had

been used to reproduce the colour plates, which ren-

dered them almost photographic in appearance.

And it was true!  I used to look at these plates and

marvel at the fact they'd been created by human hands,

rather than being captured by a camera.  In my new copy

there was no such note, and the illustrations didn't appear

quite so photographic in nature, but they were still ex-

ceptional examples of the artist's craft.

When I bought the new copy, I no longer had my

original so couldn't do a direct comparison, alas - but

there was definitely a subtle difference.  Still, it was great

to see the pictures again after all this time.  'All this time'?

In fact, it had only been about six years, but seemed like

a lifetime ago, such is the puzzling passage of time

when one is still a relative youngster.

Anyway, I thought I'd share the illustrations with
you here, just to push the parameters of this blog's con-
tent.  Aren't they fantastic?  I don't know much about the

artist, apart from the fact that he did some paperback book
covers, and some illustrations for LOOK & LEARN mag-
azine.  Let's hear your views about Jack Hayes' work
in the ever-lovin' comments section.

Posted in: Cartoons