Cartooning the Fast Lane with Paul M. Ellender
In this episode of the Backseat Driver Podcast, I delve into the illustrious journey of Paul M. Ellender, a multifaceted individual whose passions encompass both motorsport and artistry. Ellender recounts the formative experiences that ignited his interest in motor racing, notably influenced by a dedicated chemistry teacher who recognised his artistic talent and encouraged him to create cartoons for a motor club magazine.
Paul shares the evolution of his career from a budding cartoonist to an established figure in the realm of automotive illustration, highlighting his unique approach that intertwines humour with the nuances of motorsport culture. Alongside his artistic endeavours, Ellender reflects upon the challenges and triumphs of self-publishing his works, emphasising the significance of anecdotes derived from his experiences at racing events.
I gain insight into the intricate relationship between art and sport, as well as the enduring impact of personal narratives in shaping one's creative output.
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Transcript
Foreign.
Speaker B:Yes, it's me, Mike Stone and this is the Backseat Driver podcast.
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Speaker B: -: Speaker B:I'd like to introduce the Backseat Driver radio show.
Speaker B:Former racing driver, motorsport enthusiast and cartoonist.
Speaker B:I don't think I've had a cartoonist rally driver, a racing driver on before who portrays rallying's humor.
Speaker B:As to what you might find humorous about driving through a dry stone wall is skating down the road on your roof, I don't know.
Speaker B:But Paul N. Ellender will make you laugh after the event.
Speaker B:So, Paul M. Ellender, welcome to the back seat driver.
Speaker A:Good afternoon, Mike.
Speaker A:Thank you very much.
Speaker B:How did this come about?
Speaker B:Where did it all start?
Speaker A:Well, dear me, it started at school, believe it or not, as a drawing.
Speaker A:And my chemistry teacher, Frank Averd, who.
Speaker B:Said you're no good with chemicals.
Speaker B:Have a do at this.
Speaker A:Yeah, well, he was noticing besides saying, can I borrow your Autosport?
Speaker A:He noticed I was drawing.
Speaker A:He said, said look Paul, you wouldn't like to try and draw some cartoons for me for the Clitheron District Motor Club magazine?
Speaker A:Wrong slot.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I said, yeah, I'll.
Speaker A:I'll give it a go.
Speaker A:I mean he was a good teacher, there's no doubt.
Speaker A:Oh, he still is.
Speaker A:I didn't mean to write him off then.
Speaker A:He is a good teacher and he introduced me to motor racing.
Speaker A:You know, he was that teacher that people talk about that really influenced.
Speaker A:Yeah, influenced me.
Speaker A:Lie.
Speaker A:So it.
Speaker B:And you've been poor ever since.
Speaker A:Yes, I have.
Speaker A:I mean I.
Speaker A:You took my joke away.
Speaker A:That with me pointless line.
Speaker A:Yes, he.
Speaker A:We went to Alton park for first took me to my first race that were European Formula two.
Speaker A:Five world champions there that day.
Speaker A:Staggering.
Speaker A:You couldn't do that today.
Speaker A:No, but it was an influence on Me because six years later, five years later, I were on the grid myself in Formula Fords.
Speaker A:It.
Speaker A:He made a big step.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:And you don't.
Speaker B:You didn't go on to become a world champion though.
Speaker A:No, no.
Speaker A:I did sign up at Jim Russell and started practicing ME speaks for Sports Personality of the Year but I never actually needed it.
Speaker A:But yeah, I start doing cartoons basically through.
Speaker A:We used to call it Roamer, named after the little navigation divide, which introduced me to new things.
Speaker A:Because drawing cartoons you had to draw characters as well.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:So we started to sit down and describe characters and naturally enough you started thinking about people like Barry Foley and Autosport with Catchpaw and Jim Bamber and you were thinking I'd like to get involved with that.
Speaker A:So you literally started the long process of writing to all the publications, all the magazines.
Speaker A:Can I be a cartoonist for you?
Speaker A:And some like what I would do with me sketches and the level of humour.
Speaker A:But I really didn't have a build up a material.
Speaker A:There is no point doing topical work.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Because I couldn't get it published.
Speaker B:Well, I think that's the problem.
Speaker B:Like the guys you've mentioned in the following weeks, Autosport, there'd be a cartoon relating to a race that happened two days before.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:And that.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:It's like this.
Speaker B:It was then spontaneity.
Speaker B:Unlike today where it don't make any difference.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So how did you carry on because you suddenly discovered that you weren't going to make a living at this.
Speaker A:Well, I did.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I was suitably distracted by formerly Ford.
Speaker C:Ye.
Speaker A:Um.
Speaker A:And despite Jerry Marshall's famous description of what Formula Ford was, which was to drive into a car park at 100 mile an hour with a petrol tank strapped to your bottom.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:I'm gonna say bottom for the Savillarate.
Speaker A:And, and I, I enjoy Formula Ford.
Speaker A:He had a little team.
Speaker A:You're, you know, and, and come Donnington.
Speaker A:Unfortunately I did what I said.
Speaker A:Well, it was said.
Speaker A:And I did drive into a car park at which point me mom said, well you can carry on car racing but you're gonna have to get a roof.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So I ended up with a Vauxhall Chevette first, which were a nice little car.
Speaker B:But they had just celebrated the 50th anniversary.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And they, they, we just couldn't.
Speaker A:It wasn't powerful enough.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:We tried to plead with them at the time.
Speaker A: The: Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A: aid, well, can you not make a: Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Because we had all the clubman parts.
Speaker A:It would have been a corker of a car.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:And fact is, some years later at rally day I was talking to us a guest who come to look at me artwork and I had the picture of the Chevette up on the wall and he's looking at it intently.
Speaker A:He said what is it?
Speaker A:I said well he said I don't recognize it.
Speaker A:I said well it's my artist's impression of a group 1 Chevette.
Speaker A:Chevette as it would have raced in the British saloon car.
Speaker C:Check.
Speaker A:Yeah, but it's a saloon car as it was called then.
Speaker A:Oh.
Speaker A:He said I wish we'd have known about it.
Speaker A:And he shook his hand.
Speaker A:He said I used to wear it for a D Fox thought, yeah, I really wanted to get that 34 years.
Speaker B:Lease.
Speaker A:And of course that ultimately led.
Speaker A:Well, it were a case of it was fun.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:And we will probably have a look at the Group 1 version but in the meantime we said let's get some a bit more competitive.
Speaker A:So I bought an Alpha sub.
Speaker C:Oh yeah.
Speaker A:Fortunately it came from Trevor Hunt.
Speaker C:Oh yeah.
Speaker A:In Burnley.
Speaker A:Which gave us the idea of saying, well you know, just to entice him we'll put Trevor on.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Alfa Romeo on the pitboard.
Speaker A:But of course once we put th Alpha.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:It turned being from Blackburn we automatically read it as Alpha.
Speaker A:So thanks for Trevor on to give us the.
Speaker A:The description and from then on it was called fell for racing and you know, little logo and everything.
Speaker A:So yeah, that, that's how we got the multi side.
Speaker A:Multisport side.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:And to get back to the original question, then it was started drawing again unfortunately after my dad died.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:And he used to really push me with me drawing and he set me and my uncle used to do with horses and shy Royce.
Speaker B:So like I said before we went to mayor, my father was a cracking artist.
Speaker B:He could just pick a pencil with a piece of paper and more or less draw what you want.
Speaker B:Draw that for me.
Speaker B:And he did.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:It's a skill that didn't cascade down to me and it's something I've always wished I could do and I've always loved watching people draw cartoons.
Speaker B:There's a definite style to drawing cartoons.
Speaker B:It's not being funny.
Speaker B:It don't seem to take him a long while.
Speaker B:You watch somebody draw a cartoon and it's a big felt tip pen and all they go on a paisley about four or five minutes later.
Speaker B:Bingo.
Speaker B:That is a complete work of art.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's, that's how that's unfortunately, that's how a lot of people's perception is.
Speaker A:You when you say, like, well, how much are they?
Speaker A:How much?
Speaker A:Well, Tony Hart used to do them for.
Speaker A:No, no, Tony Hart used to do them on the.
Speaker A:We haven't paid by the TR television license.
Speaker A:I said, if I can get that level of subsidy, I'll do one for an out.
Speaker B:So it's one of them things you have to pay for skill.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:Bought from piece of paper and felt tips and pencils and everything else.
Speaker B:You're paying somebody for their ability to do something you can't do.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:End of the story.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So as I said, I started to draw then and I were doing Colin McRae and Nigel Mansell pitch.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:But you realize everybody else was doing this.
Speaker A:So I slowly started to creep back to cartoon.
Speaker A:I'm thinking, but where's the.
Speaker A:Where's the inspiration?
Speaker A:Where's the storyline?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:And then you thought, well, you've just done racing formula Ford and prov saloons.
Speaker A:You just used to be a marshal at Clitheron District.
Speaker A:A sector marshal.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, if you can't think there's something funny going up to a farm on a Sunday morning and say, would you mind 40 rally cars coming past at 4 o' clock in the morning?
Speaker A:You're gonna get some funny answers.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:And it was then that I realized it's the anecdotes.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:That I had.
Speaker A: rted drawing again in the mid-: Speaker A:I've got all these anecdotes.
Speaker A:This is, this is my material for.
Speaker A:For rallies.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:It was like the.
Speaker B:Because that's the big thing.
Speaker B:What you've created is the rallyist.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:And it's as you describe it, observational and real life scenarios.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:The great.
Speaker A:The greatest compliment I get.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Is when I.
Speaker B:It's like you said that you're the visual equivalent of Billy Conway.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:I haven't got the same budget.
Speaker C:But.
Speaker A:See, it is that.
Speaker A:It's observational comedy.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:And the punch lines were there.
Speaker A:So I started.
Speaker A:The greatest compliment I could get from a driver or a team is when they compare themselves to the.
Speaker A:You know, they'll pick the picture.
Speaker A:Oh, remember when we did that?
Speaker A:Or that or our Billy last week?
Speaker A:And that.
Speaker A:That's when I realized the, the rallies was going to be.
Speaker A:I mean, the rallies didn't exist properly.
Speaker A:It came originally from the Duelist by Ridley Scott and John Wayne's film the Shootist.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I thought, well, if you're a Cracking film is.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:If.
Speaker A:If you're.
Speaker A:If you're into rallying.
Speaker A:Rallyist.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:It's one that rallies.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And it's like you said, it was a phrase used by the Tony Mason famous co driver in wheelbase.
Speaker B:It were a proper program.
Speaker A:It did back me into a corner when it come to racing version.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know I'll leave.
Speaker A:I'll leave you to work out.
Speaker B:So for it might narrow down those who want to bait.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:It's so fortunately after exceeding track limits at Alton park and hitting the wall.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:I was just getting out the car and the first marshal says are you all right?
Speaker A:What happened?
Speaker A:And then this booming voice of knowledge came in said too much speed, not enough track.
Speaker A:So I thought that's the motor race and we can call too much speed not enough track.
Speaker A:When the rally is went racing and that's the tagline and everything I thought phew.
Speaker A:We got out real soon.
Speaker B:He ran out of talent before car ran out of speed.
Speaker B:So I mean where does it.
Speaker B:Where does it all go?
Speaker B:Because I mean you started by taking out little stands at trade shows and motor shows.
Speaker A:Little stands.
Speaker A:We expensive plots of land.
Speaker A:Yes, that's.
Speaker A:I did.
Speaker A:I did autosport show in.
Speaker A:Well I went to all they could.
Speaker B:Be very expensive plots.
Speaker A:I did the Autosport show in two.
Speaker A: Went to Autosport sorry in: Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:And thought this is good this.
Speaker A:I did notice the fact that everybody else artists were all more.
Speaker A:They were doing very beautiful style and styles but they were still just drawing cars.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I thought well I'm gonna put me original pencil work up but I'm gonna take some cartoons with me.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:So we put these about 10 cartoons up, full color ink and everything.
Speaker A:And the crowd that gathered around it was really quite striking.
Speaker A:Just taking photographs.
Speaker A:Please don't take photographs.
Speaker A:Hi the book.
Speaker A:And it was then that a couple of comment visitors said have you thought of getting it published?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Even motorsport owner came on to say that because I couldn't get on I couldn't get into the publishing side through magazine.
Speaker A:So it was an option and I did try for a while to get publishers to.
Speaker A:To take it on board but rally books were not that.
Speaker A:Yeah that popular and cartoon rally books were even less so I thought well I'm digging myself in an all.
Speaker A:So I did actually then sit down getting into waiter papers and your intent processes and what kind of ink you're supposed to use and and cop created rallies publications which was to release my cartoon books under my own label.
Speaker B:I mean self publishing Is at times a risky business.
Speaker B:I have encountered other authors who have self published and the only thing it's equated to is self bankruptcy.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:I mean, it.
Speaker B:It is definitely a.
Speaker B:A risky undertaking in the first instance, isn't it?
Speaker A:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:When people say, what kind of artist are you?
Speaker A:You know, am I a modernist?
Speaker A:Am I a cubist?
Speaker A:And said, no, I'm.
Speaker A:I've kind of forgot the word now.
Speaker A:So that's me, Joe.
Speaker A:Now I'm a poor artist.
Speaker A:I had the word when I started that story and it's got.
Speaker B:It disappeared on the cartoon.
Speaker B:Impoverished.
Speaker B:Impoverished, yeah.
Speaker B:Impecunious.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Skint.
Speaker B:I mean, that's the one thing I mean, I conclude you can want a better term.
Speaker B:Fine art draw.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Is he needed to.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:And that's.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I do a lot of commissions for people.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Which is.
Speaker A:I still have the cartoon style because.
Speaker A:Well, Russell Brooks were one of my first customers through Andrew.
Speaker A:Andrew's E for Aya.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:They said, can you draw our cars in that style?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Or this was a gift because the color scheme of Andrews in them.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:You're all blue and red effects.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I did ask them whether who came first with the Mad Max Interceptor or was it because they're exactly so cool.
Speaker A:But that got me going.
Speaker A:They wanted them, the merchandise making the little mugs and cups and things like.
Speaker A:They were nice to meet.
Speaker A:To meet Russell.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:And get.
Speaker A:Because he could tell some fantastic stories.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:I mean, one night when we went to the race.
Speaker A:Retro.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:I'm sitting down with Russell Brooks and the owner of the Talbot Sunbeam.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:John Leahy.
Speaker A:And suddenly Tony Mason comes up.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:And then Jimmy McRae comes up.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:And Stig Blanco is come up and they're all sitting around table with this unknown.
Speaker A:Honestly, I'm scribbling notes down, like, apparently showing you that scribble on radio.
Speaker A:But I were writing down their anecdotes at a rate of knots and they're just full of them.
Speaker A:You could literally, literally spend a week just listening.
Speaker B:Well, the beauty of it is, I mean, I've been fortunate, courtesy of the French diva Marie Katharine Linny of Sitting down in France.
Speaker B:These guys are all their friends with some of the greatest French racing rally drivers going.
Speaker B:When they get talking, they all talk about each other, because to each other, Bernie d' Ayniche and Jean Claude Andouet just aren't to be friends.
Speaker B:The fact that they were both serious world champion rally drivers.
Speaker B:And then you've Rene Arnoux and Henri Pescarolo sat there joining in and they talk about the names you've heard of and they may.
Speaker B:And they tell stories about.
Speaker A:They do.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And it's just.
Speaker B:It just so happens it's their circle of friends.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Who to most people are absolute heroes and legends in racing and rallying.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:But they just talk about them and they'll always talk about the humorous side.
Speaker B:They won't tell anything serious about them.
Speaker B:It always has to be joke.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:And that's that.
Speaker A:That's what Rallies is then.
Speaker A:So you get.
Speaker A: Rallies was published in: Speaker A:Con.
Speaker A:Sewer in.
Speaker A:In southern Ireland.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:For Halloween Rally.
Speaker A:And that's where we launched that book.
Speaker A:So it was.
Speaker A:It paid off nice.
Speaker A:And I got a chance to drive that car once.
Speaker A:I only drove the Talbert from.
Speaker A:From the pay.
Speaker A:Where the.
Speaker A:The section of the race retro where he takes people for rides and I. I drove it from there to the paddock.
Speaker A:But it went nice.
Speaker A:And I did wave up people who took photographs of me even though they probably got home and thought, you know.
Speaker B:This man who's he Way Matt.
Speaker A:So, you know.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I was amazed because the height difference between me and Russell.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Was when I got in the car.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:I thought, God, this is a comfortable driving.
Speaker A:I didn't have to move any pet seats or anything, you know, which you didn't want to.
Speaker A:How on earth he driving in this car?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Different math to get it out all together.
Speaker A:Your dignity.
Speaker A:But hands and knees crawl out and I hope nobody's watching.
Speaker A:But yeah, that's.
Speaker A:That's the sort of people you end up meeting as a result of that and the supply of.
Speaker A:Of stories that they do.
Speaker B:It's like I said, you.
Speaker B:You can do fine art artwork if you want.
Speaker B:But what's the allure of the cartoon?
Speaker B:I mean, I like cartoons.
Speaker B:I think they're more entertaining.
Speaker A:It just satisfies my sense of humor to actually.
Speaker A:To draw a cartoon.
Speaker A:And this is where even Rally has remastered the latest one.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean you've done a few of them, haven't you?
Speaker A:I've done Rallies one and two and two coloring books as well.
Speaker A:I'll throw the coloring books in there if I.
Speaker B:For your children.
Speaker B:Keep your children entertained.
Speaker B:Buy them.
Speaker B:Buy them the coloring books and a box of packed of health tips and you've cracked it.
Speaker A:Well, when I've got me trade Stanley Place, if I'm at Edge at paddock, I sell and sell it to drivers.
Speaker A:I say, yeah, you can give these to team.
Speaker A:Keep them occupied while they wait for you to come back.
Speaker B:Do you look felt tips and all?
Speaker A:I do.
Speaker A:I've got the pens, and also I've got paints if they want them.
Speaker A:But, you know, I have to have an adult with them when they paint it.
Speaker B:But, I mean, the books come in all shapes and sizes, don't they?
Speaker B:I mean, there's paperbacks, there's hardbacks.
Speaker B:I mean, how did this come about?
Speaker B:Like, this range of books in different styles.
Speaker A:Well, the nine B7s, which is the standard.
Speaker A:Rally is one and two.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:With the plan to go into number three.
Speaker A:But of course, then you started doing commissions.
Speaker A:You started making merchandise.
Speaker A:So that led you into a bit of a direction.
Speaker A:And before you knew it, like we were.
Speaker A:We were coming up to 10th anniversary.
Speaker A:I saw that.
Speaker C:What.
Speaker A:What am I going to do?
Speaker A:That's different.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Now, around about that time, I was doing the fine art again.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Because of commissions.
Speaker A:People wanted the.
Speaker A:They wanted that little bit more detail that the cartoon will give, Though I tried to maintain the cartoon as much as I could until finally one of my customers, he had a Datsun 240Z and they were running the East African Safari Rally.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:And he had a video.
Speaker A:He didn't turn up with a photograph.
Speaker A:He said, can you do this?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:So suddenly I had the potential to mix the cartoon with the fine art.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:And that was the day Rally Stark got created, as opposed to just Rallies, because I then sat down and redrew the 20 cartoons I'd already done for the original book and started to.
Speaker A:To bring this together, where you've got the fine art, the cartoon, and then the humor all mixed into one.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:It's the car is the characters, and the cartoon.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:And that's more or less where I got to with Rally is remastered.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:Which has just come out, which is the hardback.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker A:Apparently.
Speaker A:Is 3 millimeters too big to fit in a presentation box?
Speaker A:So it's gone back to engineering now to get it cut.
Speaker B:Well, before we went on here, you came up with a glorious description of this.
Speaker B:You can just let me have that description again.
Speaker A:The disc.
Speaker A:What?
Speaker A:The fact that it actually is 3 millimeters is too small.
Speaker A:And I did get in touch with the Princes.
Speaker A:And the quick option was just to take the three millimeters off.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:No more.
Speaker A:Just the three millimeters on.
Speaker A:But I did point out, well, if that's the case, I'm gonna have to supply pen knives.
Speaker A:So they cry the book out the box.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker B:But what's the other Thing.
Speaker B:Allowances.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Well, that's, that's the other side of it.
Speaker B:When this, this is where your engineering background comes in.
Speaker A:It does.
Speaker A:Now, 25 years at rolls Royce is the fact that if you ask an engineer to.
Speaker A:Sorry, if you ask a mathematician what two and two is.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:It's four.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:No, if you ask for.
Speaker A:Ask a statistician, it's a very strong likelihood it would fall between three and five.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:But if you ask an engineer, it's four, but we'll make it nine and be safe.
Speaker A:So Rally is the new.
Speaker A:Rally is remastered.
Speaker A:He's 10 millimeters smaller, so you can get your fingers downside of box to get it out.
Speaker B:I conclude these are all self published.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker A:It still runs under the banner of, of Rally's publication.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Hopefully one day I'll make enough money to set a company up that'll actually do this.
Speaker A:But at the moment the remaining five or six of the hardback will come out with a new smaller version.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Which is 10 millimeters and will come with the presentation box.
Speaker A:But it did give me the golden opportunity then to say, well, I'll do a paperback as well while I'm at it.
Speaker A:And the paperback can remain at the proper A4 spouse.
Speaker A:So there's always an upside.
Speaker B:I mean, don't mind me asking, how do you self publish?
Speaker B:What, what, what is the process?
Speaker A:You've got to say to yourself, am I mad?
Speaker A:Am I going really going to do this?
Speaker A:Well, the thing is, can I look.
Speaker B:In your piggy bank?
Speaker A:Yes, that doesn't take long.
Speaker A:The, the publishing process is actually to get the ISBN number first, which is the International Serial Book, which when I.
Speaker B:Read a book review out, the one thing I always finish my verbal or video review with.
Speaker B:If you want this book, the ISBN number is.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:And the ISBN number is unique, isn't it?
Speaker A:It is, it's unique to that book.
Speaker A:I mean, it's a nice idea that once you've got your ISBN number, it goes off to the National Archive.
Speaker B:Do you have to pay for it?
Speaker A:No, they, they.
Speaker A:Yes, you do pay for the serial number.
Speaker A:So I bought 10 at once.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:To make it save a bit of money.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:Ah, well, it was an investment because they're a lot dearer now.
Speaker A:But it's as I rang them up when I was first doing rallies remastered, they said, do they still carry?
Speaker A:Said, oh, no, you own them numbers.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Nobody else can use them.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker A:Because the first.
Speaker A:Somewhere along the lines, first or second, three numbers on there is Rally's Publication.
Speaker A:So Rally's publications is on that number.
Speaker A:All right, so that's a nice thought, that.
Speaker A:Come what may.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Come.
Speaker A:Any photo, any sort of catastrophe.
Speaker A:Rally is remastered, is in an archive.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Alongside Shakespeare and Harry Potter and all the lot, you know.
Speaker A:It's nice.
Speaker A:Nice thought.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, it's like you said.
Speaker B:I mean, does a copy of each book go somewhere to be filed away forevermore?
Speaker A:Yes, yes.
Speaker A:It goes to the National Archive, National Library.
Speaker A:I can send one to America, but I haven't done that.
Speaker A:I'll just risk one.
Speaker A:One library getting this right.
Speaker A:It's so it's.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's.
Speaker A:It learned me a lot.
Speaker A:You're getting in touch, you're into agents and all that kind of thing.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Doing this.
Speaker B:Who regrettably will want this slice.
Speaker A:Well, yes, yeah.
Speaker A:But it's.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:And then, of course, you've got.
Speaker A:The website starts to get creeping in as the technology improves.
Speaker A:Because then you want to try and sell them yourself.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Try and just erase the profile.
Speaker A:So you're on social media and all that kind of thing.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:It's just that you are ended up doing all the way, all the time for very little return.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker B:Well, I was just going to say, I mean, I don't know, what.
Speaker B:If you don't mind me asking, what sort of profit, if any, do you see from it?
Speaker B:Because, I mean, if you use a.
Speaker B:A big publishing company, I mean, the theory is you get paid to do it, you get an.
Speaker B:I mean, if you're a big name, you get an advance and everything else.
Speaker B:I conclude when you sell a book for whatever price it is, a fraction of that will actually be yours.
Speaker B:That'll be profit.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Such as it might be.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:You're not happy.
Speaker B:Just have to afford fish and chips all the way up.
Speaker A:The biggest.
Speaker A:The biggest outlay is actually getting the number of books.
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:When I did Rally is one, the first one.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:There was a lot.
Speaker A:I bought a lot of books to get the price down.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:So when people are selling them on eBay for 100 pound a piece and I've got a garage full of.
Speaker A:It's a bit off putting.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:So that's what's going.
Speaker A:Rally is remastered, of course, I've got a low batch number and very work on a.
Speaker A:Practically no.
Speaker A:No profit line at all.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:And you take the expenses out then with the website and everything else, you know, you're a long way for a profit.
Speaker A:But it's nice when you do put a bit of money in the bank occasionally.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I conclude if you run out of them, it's like you said, the, the, the following books, you haven't printed or published as many.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So you can actually get your car back at garage.
Speaker B:How do you work out how many to do?
Speaker B:And is it a big job to do like a second, a second run of them?
Speaker A:Oh no, no, I can just.
Speaker A:It'll still keep going under the second run and the third run.
Speaker A:Yeah, or I'm doing that anyway, like I said, it's not version two unless.
Speaker A:Well, I don't know, I'll have to find out whether version 2 incorporates the 10 millimeter spot away.
Speaker A:But we're not going into that level.
Speaker A:I'm happy just for self purposes, you know, I've got one number one book.
Speaker A:So set every second run, third run, fourth.
Speaker A:I mean I'm a demon for tweaking, for messing about, but we're gonna get.
Speaker B:A plug in for a big box.
Speaker A:Well again, but I take it further back to that.
Speaker A:That was Barry Foley who invented that company, isn't it?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:So that's where I, I do tweak things and if it's a big tweak, that's what you called it.
Speaker B:I mean is, do they do one or two and let you see them and say oh yeah, that's all right.
Speaker A:That's changed a lot since first book.
Speaker A:And when I did rallies one, now it rallies remastered.
Speaker A:I can get a trial one printed on its own.
Speaker A:Yeah, you can go through all spelling mistakes and things like that but, and that and, and they, they look nice when they mounted on and framed them because that is number one.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's the main first editions first today.
Speaker A:But yeah, I can run it off in batches now.
Speaker A:So it doesn't, it doesn't affect anything else, right?
Speaker C:No ma'.
Speaker C:Am.
Speaker B:Is it a local company that does it?
Speaker A:No, I get them printed in London actually.
Speaker A:As I went, I went around a few and this little company come up and, and they do a really cracking job.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I get the day and if I get a technical problem like the books 3 millimeters too big or even trying to get the, to run down the side of the spine of the book, you know, it never comes out right.
Speaker A:But the person at the other end, she's all right, leave it with me, I'll sort it out and ping.
Speaker A:She presses a button and it's out, it's done.
Speaker B:And the other thing is being cartoons, apart from your line drawings where they color them in the self.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:I mean cartoons are As a rule, quite vivid in their colors.
Speaker B:So I conclude this is one thing you'll have to make sure they understand that every time you turn the page in one of your books, the image has to more or less leap out at you.
Speaker A:It does.
Speaker A:Yeah, it does.
Speaker A:And that's what's the said.
Speaker A:And by taking it down this route of being a quality picture.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Not a quality picture, a more fine art picture with a cartoon and a joke in it.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Is the fact that there's a lot of details of much detail now behind the car.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:As there is in front of it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I found myself some afternoons thinking, what are you doing?
Speaker A:You just spent 20 minutes doing a tree in the far top left hand corner of the.
Speaker B:Probably nobody'll want to look at.
Speaker B:Because when you look at and picture a painting, you tend to look at the main subject of the painted door.
Speaker B:It's only later on, if you're looking at something big, you might then start casting your eyes round.
Speaker B:But that tends to be a painting in book form.
Speaker B:You probably.
Speaker B:Your readers probably don't do it.
Speaker A:No, they won't.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:But it's there anyway.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Literally.
Speaker A:I have done a water splash at a rally.
Speaker A:You know, deep water splash.
Speaker A:Marshalls are looking.
Speaker A:Just the bubbles coming up.
Speaker A:The caption being, well, it did rain or last.
Speaker A:Last night.
Speaker A:But then you've got the tree and of course you've got the sponsors, you know, because rally is.
Speaker A:I had to create all my own sponsors for.
Speaker A:For the adverts.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:And behind the tree there's a hedge and there's a field.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:And then you've got.
Speaker A:And then he's like, that's not enough.
Speaker A:And you go put a little church spire on the hill.
Speaker A:So, you know, it's like the.
Speaker A:The hay rain wake.
Speaker A:You know, you can just go wandering into this picture.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:No, it's in.
Speaker A:And look at the scenery thing.
Speaker A:I think there's a rally going on over there.
Speaker A:You know, it's.
Speaker B:Now that's the other thing.
Speaker B:Apart from the cars which have their official sponsors on.
Speaker B:Some of your cartoon cars have fictitious sponsors all over them.
Speaker B:Don't be.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:It was an idea that my dad.
Speaker A:Late father came up with when I were informally forward.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:And he suggested, well, why don't you make some sponsors?
Speaker B:You have the Ford.
Speaker B:Put the for car with no names.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:They look from your own.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:So he suggested, well, why don't you make your own?
Speaker A:I mean this with days of vinyl and cutting them out yourself, you know, buying them.
Speaker A:Buying letters from Corner shop.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:But it worked.
Speaker A:Oh, we had asphalt companies and plasterers and all sorts of names.
Speaker A:We didn't go, silly.
Speaker A:We didn't go.
Speaker A:We didn't go for British Airways or anything like that.
Speaker A:And I suppose it's been ingrained because as I sat down and started drawing the cartoons on for me books.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:I started to create things like Peliko oil.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Short tread tires, Fart More larga that went that way.
Speaker A:Now spelled P, H and M, double O R, E. You know, I've got a Eastern European roll cage company called Zovertit.
Speaker A:And of course his first.
Speaker A:His first.
Speaker A:His first initial is R and.
Speaker A:And they were doing a cartoon for.
Speaker A:For a nephew.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Fred Flintstone.
Speaker A:I thought, let's draw Fred Flintstone and Barney Robo.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:In a rally car.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:So, you know, naturally I had to have sponsors for that.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I was just, you know, going for this well known energy drink that thought that's got to be finding.
Speaker A:But of course Fred Flintstone has a pet dinosaur called Dino.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I came up with Dino Rosso, the red dinosaur and works.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:It makes a good T shirt because I've got one.
Speaker B:And like you were saying, you've merchandise.
Speaker B:I mean, does that sell just as well?
Speaker A:That's.
Speaker A:It's a positive and a negative at the same time.
Speaker A:It's one I create for my trade stand to draw people in.
Speaker A:But the more merchandise, T shirts, sweatshirts, jigsaws and things.
Speaker A:There's plenty of companies.
Speaker A:I'd hate to be in that business because the competition is phenomenal.
Speaker A:But there's all sorts of things now you can get printed.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:But it tends to fill me marqueal and that means I've got less room to show me artwork.
Speaker A:And it was round about that time that you realized I want to show my artwork off properly.
Speaker A:So I started to explore the potential of building an art gallery.
Speaker A:A mobile art gallery.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:That can, as I say, it's tagline, be right where it needs to be.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Which is at a major motorsport event.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:So part of maintaining rallies and having rallies remastered now and hopefully a limited edition version, is to raise the capital to build an art gallery.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:And that falls more in line with me and my wife Lynn's ambitions about having a trade stand is that you turn up, meet a few celebrities, shake some hands, sign some pictures and then bugger off as somebody else.
Speaker B:All of you minions to take that.
Speaker B:Is the artist about?
Speaker B:He's not in residence.
Speaker B:He's buggered off.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:It's nice that it'd be nearest as near as I got to being a Formula one driver then.
Speaker A:Or somebody actually builds your car, paints it, polishes it, you raise it and then go on.
Speaker A:So that.
Speaker B:Now one of the things I know lots of journalists do it I used to do when I used to write you wake up at a peculiar time of night and you always have a pad and pen handy because.
Speaker B:So all of a sudden there's a sentence for a paragraph running through your mind and you write it down.
Speaker B:Do you suddenly find inspiration appears and you'll just pick some it up and make a quick.
Speaker A:Oh, you've got to.
Speaker A:Once it's gone, it's gone.
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:It's a cruel rule that.
Speaker A:That you don't make it come back no matter how hard you try because you can't simulate the circumstances.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:That you actually create.
Speaker B:Let's do like a quick sketch to.
Speaker A:Remind you a line sometime.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Simple line.
Speaker A:I mean the most recent one was the Oregon Trail Rally.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Now the title of that alone just.
Speaker B:Conjures up this, which you ought to be John Wayne in a rally car, aren't it?
Speaker A:Well, I actually did a cover of Covered Wagon with piclicoil written on the side at the start and finish of a time control.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:And the Oregon Rally people loved it.
Speaker A:Yeah, they really did.
Speaker B:So we're a chuck wagon with big wheels on it.
Speaker A:Big truck wagon.
Speaker A:Marshall standing there with time control for the Stetson.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And a pool.
Speaker A:A poor bow there stood there with sticker on its side, you know, and it just.
Speaker A:It was.
Speaker A:Doesn't need a caption.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Like I said, them are my favorite one.
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:The whole.
Speaker A:The whole picture is squashed into a single frame and it doesn't need a caption because it's.
Speaker A:It just seems.
Speaker B:Just says it all.
Speaker A:An Oregon Trail Rally just didn't need a caption.
Speaker A:It said it all.
Speaker A:So I'm chasing them to try and get it up front to their program this year.
Speaker B:But the only thing you do is you do like a big version of them that's mounted on.
Speaker B:Well, it's not mounted.
Speaker B:It's printed on something that you can put it garage.
Speaker B:It will resist anything and everything.
Speaker A:Yeah, that.
Speaker A:That's me.
Speaker A:What I call Gary jars.
Speaker A:It's just a larger version of my cartoon.
Speaker A:There's no background.
Speaker C:This.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's.
Speaker A:I've got the six R4s and the Mark 2 escorts and all that kind of thing.
Speaker A:Primarily for.
Speaker A:For the unfortunates who.
Speaker A:The wife won't let them Put their artwork up on the kit on the living room wall or dining room.
Speaker A:I mean I don't have one up in living room but you know it's level.
Speaker A:It's form X5 millimeter, 10 millimeter form X.
Speaker A:It is quite striking the laminated so they wipe clean.
Speaker A:So and it's Rally.
Speaker A:It's garage art.
Speaker A:Is that so if somebody wants to.
Speaker B:Get hold of one of your books who wanted some of your artwork, how do they get in touch with Paul M. Ellender?
Speaker A:I am on Facebook.
Speaker A:That's Paul M. Ellen has Paul ML in there.
Speaker A:But you can type Rally Eastern and it took me a while but I'm the one that they find now if you get.
Speaker A:If you get Rallies.
Speaker A:I actually own the rallies.com website.
Speaker A:Yeah I had.
Speaker A:We went through Rally's publications but honestly that.
Speaker A:That's an enormously long way email address end up with that.
Speaker A:Lynn said can I not have a shorter email.
Speaker A:So fortunately I managed to get Rallies co which is now looks after the merchandise side.
Speaker A:So if you want in any books ordered, if you want pictures doing or commissions there's some rallies.com and rally start.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Which is just Rallies art.
Speaker A:Just type it to find it is the catch tag phrase on that and that just covers the artwork side of it.
Speaker A:So you can see what I draw.
Speaker A:Yeah, you can see the cars.
Speaker A:The explanation of the cars, the characters and the cartoons.
Speaker B:And roughly if I commission you to draw me and semi Fiat Panda as a cartoon.
Speaker B:How long does it take?
Speaker A:It depends whether I'm building bathroom.
Speaker A:Working from home.
Speaker A:I do have the distraction of doing the garden doing the last August of last year.
Speaker A:Of course somebody drove a car through the living walls and that's very off putting.
Speaker A:But normally I aim for about two weeks.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:I've got a customer now that's been waiting a bit longer than that because I've been doing the talks.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:At the Clitheron district radio show and now I've got a radio interview.
Speaker A:So yeah.
Speaker B:I'll get back to your celebrity status is growing somewhat.
Speaker A:It's took a while.
Speaker A:Yeah, it took a while.
Speaker B:As a great friend of mine, Gareth Wynn Jones, the famous Welsh farmer once said, it takes about five years to become an overnight.
Speaker B:Does it does.
Speaker A:And I'm multiplying that by putting a zero on.
Speaker A:But I'm pleased to say at 67.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:I'm still on a learning curve.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:So like you said, Silly Sal thinks he's going to live forever.
Speaker B:But you're enjoying yourself.
Speaker A:Oh yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:I mean my son, he uses me as an example.
Speaker A:You know, he said, well, he's supposed to be retired, but he never sits down.
Speaker A:And he's got his books and stuff like that.
Speaker A:That, yeah, you know, he just keeps, keep going, keep going.
Speaker B:The late, great Mary Walker.
Speaker B:He retired at 65 and then took on an international career.
Speaker B:Paul M. Ellender, the Relist, cartoonist extraordinaire.
Speaker B:It's been a pleasure.
Speaker B:So thanks very much for joining me on the Backseat Driver radio show.
Speaker A:Thank you.
