The Art of Neil Peel

First draft of the cover for The Heroic Truths of Neil Peel

You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but an eye-catching design is essential if you want to attract potential readers. It was in early 2019 that Simon Green agreed to draw the front cover of The Heroic Truths of Neil Peel before the first draft of the story was even finished. Ben Dixon sent Simon brief descriptions of the main characters’ appearance and the details and colours of the Titfield school uniform. Simon then set to work on a preliminary front cover sketch which ended up being very close to the final image. One key question was whether or not to include the school’s name on the front cover. Would it put people off? The decision was that it would definitely let readers know what to expect within and only put off people who would not enjoy the cheeky humour. The Titfield banner stayed.

Early Cover Sketch Ideas

The 'Fantastic Foursome' and Lemony	Basher Walker and Batesy

Early Character Ideas

Simon also sketched the individual characters and a scene of Basher Walker threatening Neil, although no images were included inside the final book beyond the front cover. These trials have never been seen before.

Neil	Stephen	Grub
Cameron	Lemony	Basher Walker and Neil

Agreement Reached

With the cover approved, Simon brought his drawing to life with vivid inks. Thankfully, nobody has questioned how Lemony gets to wear a yellow dress to school!

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Adding the Title

Finally, the title of the book is very long, so the placement of it was important to avoid covering too much of the artwork. The fonts and colours stand out just enough. We think the finished product looks great, and online comments seem to agree!

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