CHARLIE AND THE MAGIC PEN : The True story of Charlie Grigg

My good friend the writer and performer Billy Spakemon approached me early in 2018 about an idea he had for a children’s story about Black Country artist Charlie ‘Chas’ Grigg and asked if I would illustrate it.

Front cover of 'Charlie and The Magic Pen'

About Charlie and 'Our Best Kept Secret'

Charlie Grigg

Chas was a modest family man, living all his life in the Black Country, who quit working full time in a factory to become highly successful comic artist for publishers DC Thomson, working on titles such as The Beano and The Dandy, and drawing characters like Desperate Dan and Korky the Cat. Anyone over a certain age in the UK (including myself) will have grown up reading these comics and they would have brought hours of fun and escape from the real world.

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Charlie as a young boy

Me, performing a song I wrote about Chas

Emma Purshouse reading her new work about Chas

Billy Spakemon (seated) and Chas's son Steve Grigg

​I’d already been involved in a creative project about Chas called ‘Our Best Kept Secret’. A group of fellow Black Country artists, writers and musicians contributed work about Chas for a series of live shows to raise funds to get a blue plaque which was installed at Rood End School where Chas had attended as a boy. Read the article. 

Me, performing at one of the fundraising events for Charlie Grigg's blue plaque

Charlie Grigg's Blue Plaque at Rood End School, Langely

Dream to reality: Creating the book

​Billy knew I also did graphic design and illustration and so asked if I would illustrate a new story he’d written which tells Chas’s story for a young audience, about 6 years old and up. The message is an important one, that young people CAN feel that if they have a dream (like being a professional artist) then they should follow their dream, put the effort and tenacity in. Of course I said yes and then began the task of bringing Billy’s handwritten script to life. 

Billy Spakemon's original script

Chas's comic strip about Rufus Rabbit

Chas's comic strip about 'Bloop' for the Sunday Mercury newspaper

My initial scamp drawings of Charlie and the heading of the cover

I began by drawing outlines in pencil, then inked them and combined elements to make the required image. This example shows MY hand(!) drawing one of Chas's actual characters, Bloop (see above).
I then scanned the drawings and coloured them on the computer using Adobe PhotoShop®.

I did the design of the book too, combining Billy's words with the illustrations to create an engaging story for young people.

It took a lot longer than I originally imagined. I have empathy now for Chas, having to produce drawings for comics for strict deadlines, it’s a lot harder than it looks. I wanted to use a style that resonated with Chas’s own work – bright, colourful and full of wit and charm – and I hope I have done him justice and that people of all ages enjoy the story and images.
The finished book is 48 pages, 210x210mm in size and printed on gloss art paper.  Please Contact me if you’d like a copy @ £5.99 each. Early indications are that the book is selling well.

A sample spread from 'Charlie and The Magic Pen.'

Back cover of Charlie and the Magic Pen

A young person enjoying reading the book

Dementia and Dudley 'Me Myself & I' Support Group

Chas was living with vascular dementia late in life and his son became his primary carer. I met Steve Grigg during my research for the songs I wrote about Charlie for the Our Best Kept Secret show and I got to hold Chas’s original drawings of Korky the Cat and Desperate Dan and lots more. It was one of those moments in life that I will keep with me forever. Chas attended the Dudley dementia support group : Me, Myself and I - for carers and people living with the effects of dementia.

Chas never let on that he was a world renown artist, it only came out after his passing. It seems that my own life has paralleled Charlie’s. I also left my full time job to follow my dream of becoming a full time designer and art workshop leader. In another, more poignant parallel, my own mother developed dementia and passed away in June 2019. The Dudley Me, Myself and I Group has been a great support to me and my family and on 1st September 2019 myself, my partner and daughter are all taking part in Wolverhampton Half Marathon to raise money for the support group. PLEASE SPONSOR US!

Click the link to sponsor us!

BOOK LAUNCH SEPTEMBER 21st 2019​

There is a book launch event on 21st September 2019, to coincide with World Alzheimer's Day at Black Country Living Museum of Charlie and the Magic Pen and another, bigger book about the Our Best Kept Secret project - there will be live music, readings,  reminiscences and large screen projections. Some of the proceeds from this event and book sales are going to the ‘Me. Myself and I’ dementia support group. Click here for tickets.
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