The Guy Fox Blog

#8. Guardian Charity Award (2004)   Previously on ‘A History of a Charity in Twenty Objects’…    We were stuck. We won’t rehash it (you can read it for yourself here ), but in a nutshell:  We needed £5,000.   We’d tried everything we could think of – applied for grants, developed proposals, submitted pitches, we’d even spent a day at IKEA Croydon with a donation bucket – and we’d come up with nothing. In fact, we were slightly worse off because our train fares to Croydon and the donation bucket had cost more than we’d collected.   Frustrated and dismayed, the Board of Trust called a special meeting to discuss options. Their conclusion: It was time to call it quits.  Ding dangit.   We just couldn’t see our way over, under or through. We were all devastated.   Lori Bean, a good, good friend and smart cookie, took Kourtney to Wagamama; over a steaming bowl of chili chicken ramen, she gave her an attitude adjustment:  “Do you have to pu...

#4. ‘History on the Sly’ Magazines (2000 to 2004) ‘Guy Fox History on the Sly’ was officially launched at the new Tate Modern on Friday 14 th July 2000. That sounds impressive, right? A launch event at Tate Modern!  And we s’pose it was. But it didn’t start out that way.  Let’s back up a bit.  Just before the first magazine went to press, Manjeet Edwards of the Peabody Trust called Kourtney and encouraged her to hold an event to celebrate the magazine.  Kourtney looked at her budget – the same one that had not stretched to meet the delivery costs (See Object #3 ). There was about £35 left, certainly not enough for a party! Food and drinks, maybe, but a venue? No way. Another ‘hmmmmm…’ moment (there’ve been a lot of those over the years).  And then a crazy idea (there’ve also been a lot of  those  over the years!): What if Tate Modern would allow us to hold a launch event?   The thought bubbles...

#2. Letter from Peabody Trust (March 23rd, 2000) With those sample cartoons ( Object #1 ), the rest was easy: Establish a charity, raise some money, recruit volunteers and start doing our work in the local community — and the rest is history!  Right? Wrong.  Not even close.  We took the ‘scenic route’. In fact, in 1998, Kourtney wasn’t thinking about charity work at all — just work! She put those cartoons in her portfolio and submitted Guy Fox to lots of London children’s publications. “Nope,” said Kids Time Out. “No, thank you,” said the Funday Times. The rejection letters piled up.   Kourtney even received a rejection from the New Statesman, which was bizarre because she hadn’t sent them anything! (But that’s another story.) Finally, there was a ‘Not-Quite-No’, from TwoCan Publications, who didn’t want the Guy Fox cartoons, but who offered Kourtney illustration work on their magazines. Kourtney settled into a routine as a freelance illustrator — wo...

#1. Drawings of Guy Fox (Autumn 1998) These pen and ink drawings are the very first iterations of the Guy Fox character. As you can see, he's gained a little weight since then – mostly in his nose! These days, we draw him in pencil, add the black lines with an old-fashioned dip pen and ink, and then scan the drawing so that we can colour it in Photoshop.  But back in 1998, when Kourtney Harper created Guy Fox, she and her husband were relocating from Chapel Hill, North Carolina to London and living out of a suitcase – no computer, no scanner, no software. So when inspiration struck, Kourtney popped in to see Mr Poole at Cornelissen .  Mr Poole was one of those living institutions who can only exist in a place like London. Dressed in pinstriped trousers, waistcoat, pocket watch with fob and immaculately-polished shoes, and wielding a walking stick that doubled as a grappling device, Mr Poole sold pen and ink drawing supplies. Nib holders, nibs, brushes and in...