York artist illustrates new Game Of Thrones spin-off book

JONTY Clark didn’t know much about Tyrion Lannister when he was asked to illustrate a book about the fictional dwarf’s pithiest sayings.

That quickly changed when Jane Johnson, publishing director of HarperCollins, sent him a box set of the first series of TV’s Game Of Thrones.

Like fans everywhere, the York illustrator quickly fell under Tyrion’s spell.

The dwarf’s caustic wit is legendary, as is his drinking and womanising. But there’s much more to him than that, says Jonty. “He’s got this seemingly aggressive manner, but beneath that there’s a lot of intelligence and humanity, a lot of sympathy and understanding.”

The Wit & Wisdom of Tyrion Lannister, published by HarperCollins this week, is a collection of Tyrion’s wisest, funniest, most caustic sayings – all illustrated with Jonty’s fabulous ink drawings.

Capturing the dwarf’s character wasn’t easy, admits the illustrator. Not having read George RR Martin’s Song of Ice & Fire books on which the TV series is based, he only had actor Peter Dinklage’s portrayal to go on.

It’s a great piece of acting – almost too good from Jonty’s perspective. “It was made clear to me quite early on that he mustn’t look like Peter Dinklage.”

He was sent George RR Martin’s original description of the dwarf in the books instead: “stubby legs, a head too large for his body, a squashed-in forehead, a jutting brow, mismatched eyes of green and black, and lank, white-blond hair”. And that’s how Tyrion appears in his illustrations for the new book.

Like everyone, Jonty has his favourite Tyrion saying. It appears on page 73 of The Wit & Wisdom of Tyrion Lannister, under a section entitled On The Human Condition. “We all need to be mocked from time to time, lest we take ourselves too seriously,” says the dwarf.

“I think our political and world leaders could learn something from that,” says Jonty.

The 53-year-old illustrator works from a studio at the Danesmead Business Centre on Fulford Cross. He shares it with fellow illustrators Rosalind Beardshaw and Nick East, plus his whippet, Alfie.

It’s a wonderfully cluttered, bohemian space, the walls covered with artwork and a huge window at one end flooding it with light.

Jonty has been here since 2006. Before that, he worked from his home in York. “Although you get really isolated working on your own. Now we can watch each-other work.”

Brought up in Lincolnshire, he went to the Royal College of Art in London to study architectural glass and ceramic work. He found work in the visual effects department at the BBC, working on Dr Who (in the Sylvester McCoy years) among other programmes.

After that he spent seven years designing museum displays, including an interpretation of the kitchens of Hampton Court Palace, before moving north to York in 1996.

But he’d always wanted to be an illustrator, he says. So he set himself up as a freelance. He took a portfolio of his work to London and ‘did the rounds’, which resulted in a job illustrating a weekly column in the Independent on Sunday.

Since then, he’s worked for the Mail on Sunday, The Times (illustrating its weekly ‘popular culture’ section in The Weekend Review from 2005-6) and the BBC History, BBC Music and BBC Countryfile Magazines, among others.

He was approached by Jane Johnson to illustrate the Tyrion book after he drew an illustrated map to set off a piece she wrote last year for BBC History.

“She really liked what I had done with it,” he says.

The Tyrion book is probably the most high-profile thing he’s done, he admits – although thankfully he didn’t realise quite how high profile while he was doing his illustrations. “I wasn’t really aware of how amazingly popular the books were– so I couldn’t really be intimidated.”

Apart from the challenge of capturing Tyrion’s character, the main problem he had was with the dwarf’s legendary bawdiness. “He’s a randy little devil!” Jonty says.

Hen tried to capture that side of the dwarf in some of his early sketches: but his editors at HarperCollins weren’t having it. “They said there’s quite a bit of difference between being rude in writing, and being rude pictorially.”

So he had to tone his illustrations down a bit. But he’s still pleased with them.

The full-colour image on the front cover was originally drawn to illustrate the section in which Tyrion talks about religion. “I wanted to do the Michaelangelo thing.”

His favourite illustration, however, shows the dwarf when he’s been imprisoned by his sister.

“My sister has mistaken me for a mushroom. She keeps me in the dark and feeds me sh**”, goes the quote.

“I like Tyrion’s expression being illuminated by the shaft of light,” says Jonty. “He looks like a vexed woodland pixie.”

Tyrion quotes from The Wit & Wisdom of Tyrion Lannister...

On why he likes reading:
“My mind is my weapon. My brother has his sword, King Robert has his warhammer, and I have my mind... and a mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone if it is to keep its edge.”

On being a dwarf
“Let them see that their words can cut you and you’ll never be free of the mockery. If they want to give you a name, take it make it your own. Then they can’t hurt you with it any more.”

On the nature of truth
“Give me sweet lies, and keep your bitter truths.”

• The Wit & Wisdom of Tyrion Lannister, with quotations from the George RR Martin novels and illustrations by Jonty Clark, is published by Harper Voyager, priced £9.99.

• Jonty will be at Waterstone’s in York from noon to 3pm on November 23 for a book signing.