Here at Yapp Brothers we have a long and proud history of cajoling talented artists to illustrate our annual wine list. This is not as difficult as you might imagine as wine and art have a magical affinity and fine wine is like catnip to sketchers and daubers who have, since time immemorial, found inspiration in the fruits of the vine.
We are thrilled to have Frome-based artist David Chandler undertaking the commission to illustrate our forthcoming 2013 catalogue – he joins an illustrious roll call that includes Quentin Blake, Willie Rushton, Glen Baxter, John Raynes, Merrily Harpur and John Burningham. The fact that David resides in my home town (when he is not teaching drawing in France or Italy) is an enormous bonus as it makes the collaborative process of marrying images to text, over coffee or, better still, wine much easier.
Although David is adroit with both pen and brush he has elected to illustrate next year’s list with pictures he has created on his iPad. I confess, as a techno-phobic Luddite, this prospect did not fill me with optimism but seeing is believing and the images David has produced so far are astounding. It is inspirational to see someone working with confidence (élan even) in a completely new medium and very exciting to be working alongside a true pioneer.
One mesmerising feature of working in a digital format is that one can see retrospectively how an image has been layered from raw patches of colour right through to fine detailing, shading and light. A fine example of Fredrik and Laurance Filliatreau’s Château Fouquet can be seen here:
You will get an even better insight into David’s work by visiting his website: http://www.davidchandler.net
Don’t forget to click here if you want to receive a free copy of our 2013 wine list – it is bound to become a collector’s item!
