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Description
(Sorry, I couldn't resist the title. ).

100 Pictures Challenge #68: Hero.

A tribute to the late Sir Bernard Spilsbury (1877-1947), British pathologist and history's greatest medical detective, hailed by many as the real-life Sherlock Holmes. In an era where British forensics was in the Dark Ages, Spilsbury blazed a trail as the first great forensic detective and expert witness, paving the way for modern crime scene investigators. He wasn't afraid to get down and dirty in the search for evidence, cut an imposing figure in court - and the mere mention of his name was enough to unnerve murderers.

And yet, for his superstar fame and his genius, Spilsbury wasn't a perfect hero. His unyielding belief of his own infallibility, even in the face of contrary evidence, would lead to conflict with other medical experts - and, quite possibly, a miscarriage of justice on more than one occasion. And time and the war and loss of family eventually took its toll upon him, eroding his ability, his confidence and his pride.

And, at the end, he chose suicide over the inevitable decline that accompanied old age. He was seventy years old.

-------------------

Okay, so I talk too much.

Um yeah, not my usual style. Partly because I wanted to try something new... but also because, for all my admiration of Spilsbury, I have absolutely no idea what he looks like in colour.

Ingredients:
- 1 sketch in blue pencil on paper
- 3 scans of old, aged paper from the back of 3 volumes of my Grolier encyclopaedia (does anyone want them as stock?)
- Corel PhotoPaint
- 1 Bernard Spilsbury biography by Colin Evans
- 1 Muse CD

Description
(Sorry, I couldn't resist the title. ).

100 Pictures Challenge #68: Hero.

A tribute to the late Sir Bernard Spilsbury (1877-1947), British pathologist and history's greatest medical detective, hailed by many as the real-life Sherlock Holmes. In an era where British forensics was in the Dark Ages, Spilsbury blazed a trail as the first great forensic detective and expert witness, paving the way for modern crime scene investigators. He wasn't afraid to get down and dirty in the search for evidence, cut an imposing figure in court - and the mere mention of his name was enough to unnerve murderers.

And yet, for his superstar fame and his genius, Spilsbury wasn't a perfect hero. His unyielding belief of his own infallibility, even in the face of contrary evidence, would lead to conflict with other medical experts - and, quite possibly, a miscarriage of justice on more than one occasion. And time and the war and loss of family eventually took its toll upon him, eroding his ability, his confidence and his pride.

And, at the end, he chose suicide over the inevitable decline that accompanied old age. He was seventy years old.

-------------------

Okay, so I talk too much.

Um yeah, not my usual style. Partly because I wanted to try something new... but also because, for all my admiration of Spilsbury, I have absolutely no idea what he looks like in colour.

Ingredients:
- 1 sketch in blue pencil on paper
- 3 scans of old, aged paper from the back of 3 volumes of my Grolier encyclopaedia (does anyone want them as stock?)
- Corel PhotoPaint
- 1 Bernard Spilsbury biography by Colin Evans
- 1 Muse CD