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Find out why Andy Pritchett chose this picture and how he went from first ideas to final cartoon

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As soon as I saw this picture of a submarine, I thought it looked like a picture from a comic. I have always loved ships and the sea so I knew that this was the one for me! I though it looked futuristic too, so perhaps it could be on an exciting spy mission or something like that.

I began by drawing the picture in rough on layout paper. This is a very thin type of paper, good for tracing through when planning your image.

I then redrew the picture on another sheet of layout paper, tracing with the original rough one underneath. The picture is tidied up and more lines put in, stronger and bolder, so it looks more finished.

Then these pencil drawings are scanned into the computer. The picture is then taken into computer drawing software and used as a template. In effect I'm 'tracing' again but this time in the computer. I don't always keep to the lines in the rough drawing but make adjustments as I go along.

I create shapes and lines in the computer building the picture up like a collage. Lines and areas of colour can be created at the same time, unlike on paper where you apply the colour after the line. I like making pictures this way because the final image looks so clean and sharp. And the computer lets you change your mind about things. If you do something one colour but don't like it, then you can easily change it. But always remember to save the pictures as you work on them. You never know when your cat is going to jump up on the keyboard and delete a day's work for you!

Not wanting to work in a real job, I went to Staffordshire University to study Graphic Design. After finishing I was lucky to land my first job designing and drawing the 'Merchandising Style Guides' and comic adaptation of 'Tank Girl - the Movie'.

I continued working in comics, spending four years drawing and painting for the 'Sonic the Hedgehog' comic and then working as an in-house illustrator for an educational software company, which gave me the chance to build on my graphic design skills.

I now work in partnership as 'Designers Ink' producing varied work from corporate websites to illustrating historical reconstructions.

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About the historic photograph

Holland class submarine, ‘Holland I’ (HMS) and crew, 1905. The ‘Holland I’, built at Barrow by Vickers in 1901, was one of the Royal Navy�s earliest submarines.
(Repro ID N3243, © National Maritime Museum)

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Hergé's Studio Exhibition & links