Drawn to the Ancient World
Peter Connolly explains how he became the most admired historical illustrator-author on Greece and Rome.
It had been a stupid and arrogant thing to say but that is the sort of person I am. I say things without considering their consequences, and then have to live with them. In my late-thirties, I had been working in London for some years as a freelance illustrator supplying advertising agencies. My career was no great success story. I had been born into the wrong age: I loved precise, detailed drawing, but for advertising agencies style was everything.
My strength was that I could draw anything. This was the result of being the child of a car illustrator who was determined that his son should be able to draw other things. But, without a distinctive style, the plum jobs did not come my way. When asked if I would be interested in illustrating a book on animals, I jumped at the opportunity, although I had very little experience beyond drawing the family pets. I whipped out a quick specimen, the agent liked it and I entered the world of publishing.
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