The Wainwrights in Colour Book- FAQ

 The Wainwrights in Colour is a book which features 1500 watercolour sketches by Andy Beck. These paintings are produced from Andy’s photographs taken at exactly the same location where Wainwright took his own photographs from which he drew the detailed pen and ink sketches that he used to illustrate the seven Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells. This has been a ten year labour of love by Andy and the book not only contains all of these sketches but each is accompanied with text describing the changes in the landscape as well as other interesting articles and features.

The book measures 327mm x 218mm x 32mm in landscape format. Hardback with 360 full colour pages. It weighs just under 2kg, hence the cost of postage and packing.

In a similar vein to Wainwright this book is totally self published by Andy Beck. There is no sponsor or large publishing house behind this work. In fact it is a solo effort, Andy has not only researched and visited every location before producing the sketches but he has also written every word* of text and designed the book and its look and layout. Hours have been spent putting together interesting stories and facts which act as filling articles in the book.

The publishing name Double Z is part of Andy Beck Images Ltd and this name comes from Andy’s faithful hounds Zoe and Zeta. The publishing name will be used in future books.

*With kind permission from The Wainwright Estate and Frances Lincoln the titles for the sketches are taken from the Pictorial Guides so that a direct comparison can be made between both works.

It was always my intention that in keeping with the original Pictorial Guides that The Wainwrights in Colour Book should be produced here in the UK, no matter what the cost. After a considerable amount of research I was able to have the printing carried out with Elanders, a well respected printers based in North Tyneside, just over an hour away from home. This enabled me to oversee the whole of the printing process. The binding of the book has been undertaken by Skyline in Dorking which even though it meant a trip down to Surrey I did manage to visit their factory and watch the first copies of the book being bound, a film of the event can be seen here.

I am proud of the fact that all of the elements of the book have been carried out here in UK.

If only it was that simple.

The Wainwrights in Colour is based on the seven Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells by Wainwright but these were used as references for the sketches by Andy. Each of Wainwright’s illustrations was scrutinised and the location estimated. Then in the right weather conditions Andy visited that exact location, took a comparative photograph and then produced his own watercolour sketch from that image, the same system that AW himself employed. This means that all the sketches are of the same viewpoint but as they appear today, all 1500 of them. It is a unique concept, never likely to be repeated.

 Copies of The Wainwrights in Colour Book are available through this website here. Even though the book is listed with major online retailers copies are not currently available via their stores. My intention is to supply small local retailers first in a similar fashion to the way that AW himself sold his Pictorial Guides in his local area when they were first published. A list of these bookshops and their locations will be published shortly.

The books have been really popular and even though there are only 5000 copies we still have some available.

Now books are directly available through this website or in various independent bookshops. To order or to see a list of stockists click here

 As the book is really filled with the 1500 sketches and relevant text there was not enough room to go into detail as to how I went about the process of obtaining the references for the project. As I considered that this back story would be of interest to show the complexities of the challenge I decided to produce a short 15 minute film of the process. Over the past eight years Alan Fentiman has been recording the story and his film is on the DVD.

The DVD is only available with the book, in a sleeve inside the back cover.

If in the past you registered interest in obtaining a copy of The Wainwrights in Colour Book then as long as your email address is still correct you will have been sent updates about publication etc. Having your name on the list does not mean that a copy will be reserved especially for you. You may consider pre-ordering a copy here to ensure that you obtain one of the 5000 copies of the book.

 When I looked at producing The Wainwrights in Colour Book I didn’t want to be seen to be milking the “Wainwright” name for ever and a day so I was always intending to produce a book of a single limited run. 5000 was a figure that I came up with that was both economical to print and enough to give lovers of the Lakeland Fells a chance to obtain a copy. I know that some people assume that if by some slim chance this edition sells out I will be producing another print run, believe me, this will not happen, once the 5000 copies have been sold there will not be a follow up print run……ever.

I have had a surprising interest for copies of the book from overseas, from as far afield as California and New Zealand. The weight of the book means that postage is not cheap but wherever you live insured delivery can be organised.

Email me if you would like a price for delivery to your area. [email protected]

It is not up to me to blow my own trumpet about the book but there is a review section here with testimonials written by genuine people who have actually bought the book. More importantly, The Wainwrights in Colour book has recently won two prestigious awards; The Great Outdoors Magazine “Outdoor Book of the Year” and the BBC Countryfile Magazine “Book of the Year”.

Three years after I came up with the original concept of The Wainwrights in Colour I held an exhibition of work at The Rheged Discovery Centre near Penrith. All of the fells were on display there although many had still to be completed. The response to the whole idea was wonderful with nearly all of the fells being purchased or ordered. Consequently these fells have now all been collected or delivered to clients across the country and hang in private collections. It would be almost impossible to gather them all together for a one off exhibition. Currently I have five fells left unsold which can be seen here: Unsold Wainwrights in Colour Fells

 It was always my plan to just have original watercolours from this series, producing prints from the set would not only have been impractical but would have lessened the uniqueness of the work. However, I have produced two limited prints from images that feature in the book- Scafell from Throstle Garth that features as the front cover of the book and Innominate Tarn, a pen and ink drawing in the “Wainwright” style. These two prints are just available as a limited edition of 214 and are part of a package with the first 214 copies of the book. More information about purchasing this set can be found here.  

Whilst I have tried to give some of the background story to the idea and concept of the project in the book it would be impossible to convey the complexities of The Wainwrights in Colour. Already I have been booked to give fully illustrated talks on the subject and more are in the pipeline. The most prestigious of these talks so far will be at Keswick Mountain Festival in June and more information on that event can be found here. There is an events programme here with more talks being added soon.

I am able to give these talks to other groups and events (no matter how small) so if you would be interested in booking me then just get in contact [email protected]