I am pleased to announce that Eleanor Underhill is making the drawings for the new book from Jennie Alexander and Peter Follansbee that is titled “Make a Joint Stool from a Tree.”
Eleanor is indeed the daughter of Roy Underhill – proud father — and the illustrator for her father’s latest book: “The Woodwright’s Guide.” It is Eleanor’s skilled hand that drafted all the illustrations in Roy’s latest book – my favorite, by the way. And one of the reasons I adore this book is that the illustrations harmonize with all the text.
So when we were choosing an illustrator for “Make a Joint Stool From a Tree,” Eleanor was the natural and obvious choice. We considered lots of other illustrators, but once Eleanor’s work was passed around, it was a done-deal.
She has been a joy to work with on these illustrations, which are remarkably challenging. Not only do they need to show the forms correctly, they also need to show the grain in a way that is not distracting and is accurate for riven oak stock.
So things have, at times, gotten weird. At Jennie’s suggestion, Peter sent Eleanor some stool parts in the mail, which always results in raised eyebrows from a postal carrier. And the discussions about the illustrations have devolved into an intense debate about medullary rays and how to draw them.
In any case, please welcome Eleanor to the team. And rest assured we are fast closing in on a press date for “Make a Stool from a Tree.” More details to come this week.
— Christopher Schwarz