How Lizzy Duncan put the sparkle in Conn Iggulden’s Tollins

When the illustrator Lizzy Duncan heard Conn Iggulden's story of the tough little fairies who make the bright colours in fireworks, an image of a burnt-out Tollin came to her in a flash. Here she charts the making of a tiny, winged hero and introduces the small inhabitants of Iggulden's Chorleywood
  
  


Tollins: Explosive Tales for Children
It was the story of how humans catch the tiny Tollins and stick them in fireworks to make the bright colours that ignited the collaboration between Lizzy Duncan and Conn Iggulden.
"This was one of the first images I finished for the book, it shows Sparkler and two of his Tollin friends burnt to a crisp on the top of Buckingham Palace. It was just a small indication of the suffering that was to follow."
 Photograph: PR
Conn Iggulden: Tollins: Explosive Tales for Children by Conn Iggulden
This is Sparkler walking home from Somerset, a walk he would have to do several times as an industrial supply. His wings would grow back over time. The smoke is burnt Tollin dust, the dust that gives fireworks their colour. Photograph: Lizzy Duncan
Conn Iggulden: Tollins: Explosive Tales for Children by Conn Iggulden
This is the original sketch of Sparkler which came out of the conversation I had with Conn on fireworks night. This image popped into my head as we looked for burnt out Tollins crawling from the spent fireworks that had fallen to the ground. I drew it (very quickly!) with a brush pen and then scanned it in and coloured it up on the computer. Photograph: Lizzy Duncan
Conn Iggulden: Tollins: Explosive Tales for Children by Conn Iggulden
Conn had a very specific idea of how he wanted the Tollins to look, so this was the first reworking of the original sketch ... it is funny to look at it again, I don't remember drawing it now. This is when I started forming the character dress code, the braces etc. I did alot of research looking at working clothes of the 1920s. They had to be dressed in a practical way so their clothing didn't get in the way of their wings! Photograph: Lizzy Duncan
Conn Iggulden: Tollins: Explosive Tales for Children by Conn Iggulden
'So here is the waist coat to keep the shirt in so flying was unencumbered. I think at this point I had been playing about with wings still. I had always pictured Tollins with dragonfly wings as they seemed more powerful compared to butterfly wings ... I think butterfly wings are definitely more "Fairy"!'
Lizzy Duncan Photograph: Lizzy Duncan
Conn Iggulden: Tollins: Explosive Tales for Children by Conn Iggulden
'So here he is! Sparkler. Waist coat, braces, good solid boots, in fact most of the Tollins have good solid boots, very important on Chorleywood Common.'
Lizzy Duncan Photograph: Lizzy Duncan
Tollins: Explosive Tales for Children
'Here are all the main characters of the book, the Dark Tollins standing out as a more sinister bunch. The bee just flew through the picture when I was doing it ... '
Lizzy Duncan Photograph: PR
 

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