I have so many questions.
My job title is ‘Archaeological Illustrator & Reconstruction Artist’. That roughly translates to ‘I draw and paint subjects involving archaeology or the historic environment; from documenting objects and remains found during archaeological excavations or surveys, to recreating what an archaeologist/ expert thinks a place, structure, landscape, person or object looked like at a certain point in history’. I adore the work that I am involved in, but I haven’t always done this job; in fact, I began my career as a fine artist back in 1999 (queue Prince song), but that’s a story for another post…
The majority of the projects I am typically involved with are Reconstruction Artwork commissions, and a large part of my job involves carrying out research into the subject matter I am depicting in my artworks. I may be supplied with reference materials and base data to use, but invariably, there will be a need for me to put on my metaphorical Sherlock Holmes deerstalker hat and dive headfirst down some proverbial research rabbit holes. Take this project, for instance…
A few of the questions I asked & found answers for while researching four specific types of jobs at the Victorian-era Globe Steel Works in Sheffield, U.K. Images © Wessex Archaeology Ltd.
When I was a member of Wessex Archaeology’s excellent Studio graphics team, I was asked to create four new reconstruction artworks showing people employed at the Globe Cutlery Works in Sheffield, during its heyday in the Victorian period: a Hand Forger, a Grinder, a Little Mester, and a Buffer. Admittedly knowing little about the Sheffield Steel Industry before I began, and next-to-nothing about the Globe Works in particular, I threw myself into some research.
The diagram above was created to demonstrate to some team members the kind of questions I have to ask in order to get the details of such artworks right, or, as I am fond of saying, “as ‘right’ as can be given the evidence we have at the moment, and as plausible as can be based on comparable sources for the evidence we don’t have”. OK, it’s not a catchy slogan, is it, but I stick by it!
It was a really interesting project, and I certainly learned A LOT about the manufacturing processes at the site, which is one of the reasons that I love what I do: I am always learning.
Oh, and in case you wondered, a ‘Little Mester’ (master) is a specialist artisan craftsperson who rents space in a larger manufacturing site. In this case, a specialist knife-maker. I based the image of the Little Mester (with a young apprentice) on one of the last traditional master knife makers in Sheffield’s long tradition of steel working. If you feel the urge to plunge headlong down a research rabbit-hole for yourself, you can learn more about the trade by clicking the link below:
