Round-up of reviews for The Lie of the Land
20 August, 2010 Filed in: Lie of the Land
The Lie of the Land has garnered some nice reviews since publication - here are a few of them.
This good-humoured, eminently readable little book is intended to enthuse readers about Britain's unusually rich and varied geology. It does that job remarkably well, evoking the special magic of unique landscapes that urban sprawl and mass tourism haven't yet spoiled. It certainly made me want to jump into the car and go see for myself some of the places it so vividly describes... You'll be impressed at how much of Britain's geology and scenery you can enjoy just by pulling over at the right spot.
Dales Life
“Anyone who has ever picked up a pebble at the seaside or a rock on a moorland path will find invaluable Ian Vince's geological guide... you will understand the area round your British holiday cottage far more deeply than before.” Giles Foden (Author of The Last King of Scotland), Condé Nast Traveller
“Takes the reader on an explosive journey across millennia. Continents glide thousands of miles like contestants in Strictly Come Dancing, Scotland swelters on the Equator and Snowdonia boasts a volcanic ring of fire with mountains taller than Everest.” Daily Express
“Brings an easy touch to a subject most would leave to a hirsute geographer” The Field
“The English Channel is a relatively recent addition to the landscape, caused by two enormous floods which took place 450,000 and 200,000 years ago respectively, as huge, glacier-fed lakes burst their banks. Had it not been for these two inundations, Vince muses, the history of Britain - and even the world - could have turned out very differently” The Scotsman
“Far from a dry, scholarly tome, The Lie of the Land is brim full of facts dressed up in a lively narrative more akin to a fictional adventure. Ian is a passionate soul and natural wordsmith.” Western Morning News
This good-humoured, eminently readable little book is intended to enthuse readers about Britain's unusually rich and varied geology. It does that job remarkably well, evoking the special magic of unique landscapes that urban sprawl and mass tourism haven't yet spoiled. It certainly made me want to jump into the car and go see for myself some of the places it so vividly describes... You'll be impressed at how much of Britain's geology and scenery you can enjoy just by pulling over at the right spot.
Dales Life
“Anyone who has ever picked up a pebble at the seaside or a rock on a moorland path will find invaluable Ian Vince's geological guide... you will understand the area round your British holiday cottage far more deeply than before.” Giles Foden (Author of The Last King of Scotland), Condé Nast Traveller
“Takes the reader on an explosive journey across millennia. Continents glide thousands of miles like contestants in Strictly Come Dancing, Scotland swelters on the Equator and Snowdonia boasts a volcanic ring of fire with mountains taller than Everest.” Daily Express
“Brings an easy touch to a subject most would leave to a hirsute geographer” The Field
“The English Channel is a relatively recent addition to the landscape, caused by two enormous floods which took place 450,000 and 200,000 years ago respectively, as huge, glacier-fed lakes burst their banks. Had it not been for these two inundations, Vince muses, the history of Britain - and even the world - could have turned out very differently” The Scotsman
“Far from a dry, scholarly tome, The Lie of the Land is brim full of facts dressed up in a lively narrative more akin to a fictional adventure. Ian is a passionate soul and natural wordsmith.” Western Morning News
The Making of The Myway Code
05 August, 2010
This stop-frame animation shows how I prepared the illustrations for The Myway Code. We went a long way towards realism, then abandoned our flaming Lancias on the hard-shoulders of reason. An actual explanation of the technique follows the video.
I made the illustrations for The Myway Code using the auto-trace in Illustrator. It all worked well, except for the roads themselves did not have the crisp-ness of the Highway Code I was looking for. I prepared set-ups on pre-printed roads (I had made up digitally) with tiny registration marks on them, then auto-traced. I then lined up the reg marks in the photo with the ones on the digital copy, using Photoshop’s distortion and perspective features and then erased everythnig in the photos apart from the cars and the odd bit of scenery.
I made the illustrations for The Myway Code using the auto-trace in Illustrator. It all worked well, except for the roads themselves did not have the crisp-ness of the Highway Code I was looking for. I prepared set-ups on pre-printed roads (I had made up digitally) with tiny registration marks on them, then auto-traced. I then lined up the reg marks in the photo with the ones on the digital copy, using Photoshop’s distortion and perspective features and then erased everythnig in the photos apart from the cars and the odd bit of scenery.